


Miss Hardy

by protector91



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Gen, Post Amazing Spider-Man 2, Post The Amazing Spider-Man
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-05-31 13:25:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15120341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protector91/pseuds/protector91
Summary: Post The Amazing Spider-Man 2.Felicia Hardy has taken over Oscorp in the aftermath of Electro's rampage. She wants to make the company a legitimate business, but will her own paranoia about the members of the Board threaten to consume her? And what happens when she finds herself developing an attraction to New York's Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man?





	1. Bad Luck

Donald Mencken cannot think of any possible words to describe what had transpired since the city blackout. He finds "a mess" too mild of a description. The same thing goes for "a catastrophe". He thought that Harry might cause trouble from the minute he took over Oscorp and yet he had to grit his teeth and accept the upstart as CEO for the time being. He knew it would only be a matter of time before Harry messed up somehow and when he did, Donald would be there to remove him from power. If only he had moved faster before the young Osborn learned of Oscorp's innermost secrets.

Now not only is the company facing scrutiny for the numerous amounts of property damage Max Dillon caused, but Harry's personal hand in the death of the Gwen Stacy woman only added fuel to the fire. Harry denied any involvement with her death, but the word of Spider-Man tends to carry a lot of weight these days. The fact that Harry laughed like a mad man as the police dragged him off to Ravencroft did not help his case either.

Whatever his involvement was, it nevertheless caused a multitude of problems for Oscorp including losing the backing of several stockers just as the board feared. It has been less than two months and yet the legal repercussions just kept coming with no signs of ever ceasing. Now all Donald wants to do is go home, relax with a bottle or two of scotch, and forget about the day's drama.

He enters his home and wastes no time heading for the kitchen when he notices the cabinet to his wine glasses hanging slightly open. He scratches his head and walks over to it.

 _It's probably nothing. A servant probably forgot to shut it is all,_ he thinks.

"Good evening, Donald," a voice greets him.

"Who's there?" Donald asks turning his head to find the source of the voice.

"Who do you think?" The light in the next room switches on, illuminating Felicia Hardy calmly seated with a glass of scotch in her hand. "Hope you don't mind me sampling some of your scotch. Never had a chance to taste something this expensive before."

Donald enters the room and stops in front of a chair, but does not sit down.

"What are you doing here, Felicia?" He asks.

"That's Ms. Hardy to you," she sternly corrects him.

Donald was instantly taken aback by Felicia's response. In practically every board meeting she was present at, she barely spoke and if she did it was only when someone else spoke to her. Whatever brought about this change in her attitude, Donald would not allow himself to appear intimidated. He cleared his throat and collected himself.

"How dare you take that tone of voice with me, and how did you get in my house? I have a good mind to call the police this instant."

"I have my ways and I wouldn't call the police if I were you, especially after you hear what I have to say," Felicia advises.

"Just who do you think you are?"

"I think I'm the new CEO of Oscorp." Donald does not laugh very often, but he feels some snickers creeping up his throat. "You think I'm joking don't you?" Felicia asks.

"Yes," Donald responds. His laughs just seconds away from breaking through.

"If I recall correctly, Harry distinctly told the board that you all worked for me because you worked for him."

"And if I recall correctly, you DISTINCTLY heard me fire Harry, so you have no claim to whatever powers you think you're entitled to."

"I beg to differ." Felicia sets down the glass of scotch and holds up a flash drive.

"This not only holds security recordings of Harry declaring you all work for me, but also all the evidence needed to convict you of covering up Max Dillon's accident and how you used it to frame Harry and remove him from power. Let's not forget that the frame up resulted in Harry releasing Max from Ravencroft to obtain what he desperately need, which also resulted in Max's rampage throughout the city. Basically, every. Single. Death. Is on your hands. I'm sure the police would have a field day with this information should they ever discover it."

"You're bluffing."

"I don't bluff."

Donald looks at the flash drive then wrenches open the nightstand drawer next to him, but finds it empty.

"Looking for this?" Felicia asks holding up a gun. "Sit," she commands and he obeys.

"Good boy," she says with a cheeky smile then points the gun at him. "I think you should know that if anything happens to me, and believe me, people WILL know if anything happens to me, the copies of the files on this drive Mr. Smythe made will fall into police hands."

"Why the Hell would Smythe help you?"

"Something about how much he hates you and wishes he could slay you or something like that. I'm not sure why he'd use a verb like 'slay'. That's kind of an odd word choice."

Donald eyes the flash drive again and wipes away some sweat from his forehead.

"What do you want?" Donald dejectedly asks.

"…did you just ignore everything I said? Oscorp has a new CEO now and her name is Felicia Hardy."

"Why would you want to run this company? That little stunt Harry pulled is costing Oscorp millions from the astronomical legal repercussions."

"I know, but that's just going to make me stepping up as CEO seem even more plausible as you obviously can't control the situation at hand. Don't worry. I'll fix Harry's mess," Felicia promises then pockets the flash drive. "I'll expect your resignation within the week." Felicia turns off the lights. "Good night, Donald."

"She can't do this. She just can't," Donald says to himself running a hand down his face.

"I can and I already have," Felicia corrects him once again. Donald looks up and almost jumps at Felicia's eyes illuminated in the dark.

"It'd be in your best interests to not cross my path after you resign. It'd be bad luck for you," Felicia threatens.

She exits the room and leaves Donald alone with his thoughts. When he first entered his home he thought that "cataclysmic disaster" might serve as an accurate description for the fallout of Harry's actions. Now even those words seem like an understatement. He grabs Felicia's unfinished glass of scotch and downs the whole thing in one gulp.


	2. The Spotlight

Felicia always wondered what it was like to be in the spotlight. To have a crowd hinge on every word you said. She smiles at the multitude of cameras snapping pictures of her as she steps up to a podium.

Donald resigned from the board and of course the other members did not take the news well. As long as Felicia possessed the flash drive, however, they could do nothing, but grit their teeth and follow her orders as the new C.E.O.

She took over Oscorp five months ago, but waited until now to call this press conference to announce the shift in power. The last thing she wanted was to jump the gun on the announcement and then have something go wrong. Much to her surprise and eternal relief, nothing did, beyond a criminal known as Aleksei Sytsevich somehow stealing a powerful weapon from Oscorp's vault. Thankfully Spider-Man picked that day to return and take care of him. Now all she needs is to get the press on her side and she would be home free.

Felicia doesn't worry, however. She's observed enough press conferences to know what to say and have the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. The first question asked, of course, dealt with Harry.

"Harry Osborn is no longer affiliated with Oscorp in any shape, way, or form," she responds. "We are a legitimate business now."

The second she says that she hears a snicker. Her eyes seek out the source of the laughter and spot a photographer. He sees Felicia watching him and pretends to cough. He looks roughly just out of high school with boyish good looks. She notices a Daily Bugle Press Badge clipped to his shirt and she silently sighs to herself. Felicia never cared for the Daily Bugle for a variety of reasons such as their endless persecution of Spider-Man.

"Miss Hardy?" She hears the same reporter say. Felicia's breath catches in her throat as she realizes she lost her focus. She seeks the reporter back out and clears her throat.

"I'm sorry. Can you please repeat your question?"

"I asked, what happened to the weapons he used the night of the city black out?"

"We've had all weapons, including the recovered suit used by Aleksei Sytsevich locked away within Oscorp until further notice."

Felicia sees another reporter's hand go up and points to her.

"Why not destroy the weapons? If Oscorp is supposed to be legitimate now, that seems to be a logical course of action."

"Just because a mad man got his hands on our technology doesn't mean that it can't be used for good. But as I said, the technology is under lock and key for now."

Some people, and by some people Felicia instantly thinks of Donald, might consider it foolish of her to admit that the weapons had not been destroyed, but better to be open about it now than have someone uncover the truth and cause a huge scandal. Besides, the board members can't blackmail Felicia if she has no secrets.

The questions continue to pour in and Felicia answers them without missing a beat. The press continues to eat up her answers about the future of Oscorp and the photographers can't seem to go a minute without taking a picture. That is with the exception of the guy from The Daily Bugle. Felicia did her best to not look annoyed at the expressions he makes every time she answers a question. She does not want anyone to snap a bad picture of her.

* * *

Peter fights desperately to not laugh during the entire press conference. Maybe he's read one too many comic books and that's why he's hesitant to believe that the corrupt corporation that created not one, but four super villains, can't change due to a shift in leadership. Miss Hardy appears innocent enough, but Peter knows for a fact that looks can be deceiving as he learned from dating Gwen.

She looked harmless enough at first glance and then she goes and runs over Electro with a stolen police car…Gwen. Peter looks up and takes a silent gasp at the podium. He sees Gwen, radiant as ever, standing there instead of Felicia. He can hear her begin her graduation speech and feels a lump forming in his throat. He's only listened to it once, but the words stuck with him like he does to a wall. He owes it to Gwen to never give up again on keeping the city safe; no matter what the cost. He takes a few more photos and then just as quickly as it started, the press conference ends.

Peter aims his camera for one last shot of Felicia when he feels a light tingle in his head. He jerks his head around to locate what set off his Spider Sense, but nothing about anyone in the room seems out of the ordinary. Then again appearances can be deceiving. He looks around a few more times then feels his Spider Sense slowly calm down.

He makes a mental note to keep an eye on Felicia once she's left the building and puts his camera away.

* * *

Felicia enters her apartment feeling very sure of herself. There wasn't a single question she couldn't answer and aside from the guy from the Daily Bugle, everyone looked like they were on her side.

"Hello, Felicia." Felicia gasps at the unexpected voice and turns her attention to the kitchen. She spots a man dressed in black taking something out of her refrigerator.

"Who the Hell are you?" She asks.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Gustav Fiers. I am an…associate of Harry Osborn," he answers while taking a sip of a water bottle he took from Felicia's refrigerator.

"Harry never mentioned you…wait. How the Hell did you get in here?" She asks reminding herself of Donald much to her chagrin.

"Never mind that, Miss Hardy. I only wish to convey my congratulations on how you handled the press conference. Mr. Osborn will be pleased to know his company is in such capable hands."

"He's using you to keep tabs on me?" Felicia asks.

"In a word, yes," Gustav responds. "Especially considering what the man whose job you took is capable of doing."

"What did you do to Donald?" Felicia asks.

"Calm yourself. He is very much alive, but you need not worry about him attempting to take the CEO position from you," Gustav promises her.

"I can handle myself, Mr. Fiers. Tell Harry that the next time you visit him in Ravencroft. I trust you can show yourself out?" Felicia asks him.

"Of course," he complies. He finishes his drink and exits Felicia's apartment.

Felicia stares at the door and then at various sections of her apartment. Maybe she's being paranoid, but she has a feeling Gustav might have bugged her place. She thinks about checking for any bugs, but figures that Gustav will probably just bug it again if she removes them. She decides to leave well enough alone for now.

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Who To Trust

Felicia's alarm goes off. She opens her eyes and shuts the thing off. It is fairly early in the morning, but she is still riding off the success of the press conference from yesterday to feel tired. She gets out of bed and quickly goes through her morning routine to prepare for work. As she goes through it, she wonders how much of her apartment must've been bugged by Gustav Fiers.

Sure she possesses no proof that he did such a thing, but she doubts he broke into apartment to extend his congratulations when he simply could've done so at the press conference. Then again, he could've watched the conference on T.V. and then decided to break in. Thinking about this just hurt Felicia's head and she decides to drop it again for now.

After Felicia finishes getting ready for work, she exits her apartment and locks her door; subsequently wondering if that would do any good given Gustav's break in.

* * *

"PARKER!? Where the heck is he!?" J. Jonah Jameson bellows at the Daily Bugle Staff.

"I'm sure he'll be here any second now," Robbie assures him.

"You said that 15 minutes ago," Jameson replies.

"Remind me, why haven't you fired him?" Betty asks as Jameson paces around her desk.

"Because he's the only person in the entire city that can get a decent shot of that wall crawling menace, but I swear if he isn't here in the next 30 seconds…"

"Fear not, Mr. Jameson! I have arrived!" Peter loudly announces behind his boss making him jump and almost lose his balance.

"Peter? What happened to you?" Betty asks noticing his black eye.

"Oh, I had a mild altercation with a pizza delivery guy. They can get pretty violent if you accidentally slow them down though I got the last laugh since punching my lights out cost him further valuable time."

"This is no time for jokes! My office! Now!" Jameson orders.

Betty mouths the words "good luck" to Peter as he enters Jameson's office. He smiles at her then takes a seat while Jameson continues pacing around.

"Ok, if you want any shots of Spider-Man," Peter starts.

"I didn't bring you in here to talk about Spider-Man," Jameson cuts him off.

"Are you feeling ok sir? You're not a clone or anything are you?" Jameson stares daggers at Peter and he shuts up immediately.

"Listen Parker, I want you to focus on getting photos dealing with Oscorp. I know it's not your favorite place in the city, but they've really become news since that Hardy woman took over."

"I can handle it," Peter says.

_Don't make promises you can't keep, Peter hears in the back of his mind._

"I would hope so, or you'll find yourself looking for another job," Jameson threatens. "That is all." Peter nods and exits Jameson's office.

"So, how'd it go?" Betty asks him.

"Oh, the usual though Jameson only threatened to fire me once. I choose to believe that he thinks I'm good at my job and is only threatening me to ensure I always do my best." Peter says. He and Betty stare at each other then burst out laughing.

* * *

"Good morning, gentlemen," Felicia greets the members of the board. Predictably none of them respond to her. "Any questions before we get down to business?"

"Yes. When do you plan to release the weapons from the vault?" One of the board members ask.

"I said we're keeping the weapons under lock and key until further notice and I meant it."

"What!?" Someone shouts.

"I'd watch the tone you take with me," she threatens.

"You must be bluffing," the man states.

"I don't bluff."

"Gentlemen, Miss Hardy has made her decision and we must respect it," someone else says.

"Thank you, Mister Fisk," Felicia thanks one of the newer members of the board.

Wilson Fisk came in around the same time that Donald disappeared. Felicia does not think the timing is coincidental and believes either Harry or Gustav has something to do with it. But the best thing Felicia can do is just go with it, especially since Fisk seems to be on her side.

"Why continue to keep the weapons locked away?" Someone else asks.

"Because that's what I told the press and I think it'd be in this company's best interests that I keep my word. Remember, it's those very weapons that got us into the mess we're currently in. We don't need any more media scandals. When the city trusts us, that's when the weapons will finally be released and only then. I'm almost tempted to halt any bio-experiments, but they can be used to our advantage. We can show the city that for every Harry Osborn or Lizard, there's a Spider-Man."

"You really believe that Spider-Man was created from one of this company's experiments?" Another members asks.

"What other explanation is there?" Wilson asks. "Even if he is not, it would probably be in this company's best interests to…imply that he was. Wouldn't you agree, Miss Hardy?"

"Perhaps, but not yet. As I already said let's work on regaining the city's trust first. Let's also use that time to learn whatever we can about Spider-Man. Who knows. Maybe we could even get him to work with us."

"Yes. Perhaps we could," Fisk agrees. After a few more things are discussed, the meeting is adjourned. Felicia is the last in the room and is about to leave when someone knocks on the door.

"Come in." The door opens; it's Alistair.

"Hello, Alistair. What is it?"

"Miss Hardy," he starts and Felicia laughs.

"I'm Felicia to you, remember? Well, when we aren't in front of others anyway." Alistair clears his throat and starts over.

"Felicia, I was just wondering if my research must also remain confiscated in the vault."

"For now, yes." Alistair appears stunned by her answer, but regains his composure quickly.

"Why? You do trust me, don't you?" Felicia puts a comforting arm on Alistair's shoulder.

"Of course I do. It's the members of the board that I don't and until I figure which ones are clean, you have to trust me that keeping your research in the vault is for the best. The last thing we'd want is for it to wind up in the wrong hands."

"That's true. Thank you for your time, Felicia." Alistair turns and leaves the board room. Felicia sighs and makes a mental note to keep an eye on him.


	4. The First Meeting

_“Thankfully, Spider-Man thwarted the robbery.”_

_-_

_“Spider-Man saved them from the fire.”_

_-_

_“If Spider-Man hadn’t been there-”_

_-_

_“Spider-Man.”_

_-_

_“Spider-Man.”_

* * *

 

“Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does anyone have anything else to talk about besides him?” Felicia’s friend, Deborah Whitman, asked as she flipped to another channel that was also covering Spider-Man’s latest act of heroics.

“Does that answer your question?” Felicia mildly laughs as she takes a seat beside Deborah on the couch.

“Ha. Ha. I get that he’s a hero and all that jazz. I just don’t need to be reminded of it every second of every day. It’s not like me or anyone in the city is going to forget that.”

“You never know with The Daily Bugle’s constant smear campaign against the Wall Crawler. I don’t understand what their problem with him is. The man has practically dedicated his life to bringing hope to those that don’t have any. After everything that’s happened over these past several months, The Lizard, Electro, Harry, the city needs all the hope it can get.” Deborah notices how intensely Felicia is watching the news footage of Spider-Man as she says this and smirks.

“I think someone has a crush,” she sings.

“He’s the Amazing Spider-Man, Deborah. Who wouldn’t have a crush on or admire him?”

“The people working at The Daily Bugle for starters,” she reminds her.

“Who cares what that yellow journalism tabloid thinks,” Felicia criticizes. “The day I announced my takeover of Oscorp, there was this one photographer from the Bugle that kept laughing during almost the entire press conference as if the idea of Oscorp going legit is a foreign concept.”

“Wow, what a jerk.”

“Mhm.”

“Speaking of Oscorp, if you don’t mind me asking, what _do_ you plan to do with all the weapons you have locked up?” Deborah asks. 

“Sorry, but that’s classified information for now,” Felicia replies. 

“Come on, don’t you trust me?”

_Sort of_ , Felicia thinks. 

“Of course I do,” she lies instead. “But you never can be too careful when you’re running a major corporation.”

“I suppose you’re right. You know, there’s a lot of things I envy about you, but running Oscorp at your age definitely isn’t one of them. I’m still surprised you managed to pull that off without the other Board Members objecting.” 

“Oh, I have my ways,” Felicia chuckles while Deborah checks the time on her cell phone. 

“Oh crap. Is it that time already? Sorry, I gotta run and get ready for my first class tomorrow.”

“No problem. I gotta get ready for tomorrow myself. Can I walk you to your car?”

“Sure.” 

The two ladies get up, leave Felicia’s apartment, and head for where Deborah parked her car. Partially because Felicia wanted to be polite, but also because she wanted to make sure Deborah got in her car and left. She felt ashamed thinking that one of her few close friends might be spying on her, but she had to be smart about this.

“It was fun hanging out with you tonight. Let’s do it again soon,” Deborah says when they reach her car. 

“You can count on it. Wouldn’t want my whole life to be dedicated to Oscorp,” Felicia laughs. She gives Deborah a hug before watching her drive off then heads back to her apartment. As she walks, a thought starts to cross her mind about her paranoia. She enters her room and immediately walks towards the couch where she left her cell phone.

_I guess this is one way to determine if Fiers bugged my place,_ she thinks and begins to dial her own number. She pretends to wait for someone on the other end to pick up and then begins to speak. 

“Deborah, it’s Felica,” she says hoping she doesn’t sound fake with this pretend call. “Regarding your question about what I plan to do with the weapons locked up in Oscorp…I know I said it’s classified, but I can’t let my paranoia eat me alive like this. So just between us, I’m planning on having them destroyed at some point. I haven’t decided when. A clean slate like this should definitely improve Oscorp’s image with the public. Again, this is just between us, so no leaking this story to the Bugle especially since you know how I feel about them. Alright, thanks Deborah. Love you too. Bye.” Felicia hangs up on the fake call and slumps down into her couch.

_Well, if nothing happens, then Fiers didn’t bug my place. Or maybe he did and he won’t do anything. Time will tell, I suppose._

* * *

 

The next two days proceeded like any other. All Felicia experienced were the typical disapproving looks and sneers from the Board Members regarding some of the various charity work Felicia scheduled for the company. Admittedly Oscorp itself would need charity soon, but if the latest project Felicia put Smythe on works out, Oscorp wouldn’t have anything to worry about for a good long while.

The third day also began like normal. Felicia woke up, went about her morning routine, got in her car, and then headed off to work. While waiting at a red light she notices a few people cheering outside and pointing up. A few seconds later, she spots Spider-Man swinging overhead towards a nearby building as a few onlookers shout out ‘YEAH SPIDER-MAN’.

It made her smile that so many people admired Spider-Man; maybe even love him. It makes her wonder. People love Spider-Man, but is there someone in the city that _loves_ him and that he loves back? Someone who’s waiting for him to come back everyday. Someone that makes his duty protecting the city worth it.

A car horn behind her snaps her out of her train of thought and she realizes the light has turned green. Felicia resumes her drive and looks back up at the building Spider-Man swung to. He’s still up there and for a moment, Felicia almost thinks he’s watching her car.

_In your dreams, Ms. Hardy,_ she laughs in her head and continues her drive along the same route she always took to work. 

As Felicia drives through an intersection less than a block away from Oscorp, she suddenly hears the sound of screeching tires. Her head darts to the right and she barely has time to gasp as a small van smashes into the side of her car.

Shards of glass fly across the car and cut Felicia’s face as her vehicle spins uncontrollably and smashes into another car that was starting to make a turn. Her face crashes against her airbags, which knocks her head back into the headrest of her seat before her car finally comes to a merciful stop. Everything is spinning for Felicia and she can barely register the chaos ensuing outside.

_Focus Felicia. Check for any surface level damage, she_ thinks and runs her hand across her forehead. 

She brings her hand back down and sees her fingers covered with blood, but her gaze tears away from the blood to focus on the scene just outside her car. A group of armed men are exiting the van that hit her. The man leading the armed assailants looks so ridiculous however, that Felicia thinks the wreck is making her delirious. But as things quickly start coming back into focus, she realizes that silly or not, that man is very much real and is heading her way. Felicia scrambles to unbuckle her seat belt, but the crash jammed it.

“Damn it!” She curses just as the driver side door gets violently ripped off and tossed aside. 

“I believe this is your stop, Ms. Hardy,” the lead assailant says. Felicia’s eyes widen at the man. He’s dressed in a red and yellow costume with two strange gauntlets on his arm.

“Who-who are you?” Felicia asks. She wonders if he was sent by Fiers, but the man's gauntlets don't look like any Oscorp design she's ever seen.

“You can call me, The Shocker,” he replies and tears away Felicia’s seat belt and drags her out of the car. Felicia can feel her arm vibrating almost down to the bone from whatever energy is surging through Shocker’s gauntlets. “Let’s go, boys!” He calls out to his men and starts half dragging Felicia towards the Oscorp building. 

“W-what do you want from me?” Felicia asks trying to break free, but still feels too dizzy to put up much of a fight.

“You really have to ask?” The Shocker says back.

“INCOMING!” Someone shouts.

“What the?” Shocker turns around just in time to see Spider-Man swinging straight at him.

_Oh, you are so screwed!_ Felicia exclaims in her mind, except Shocker raises up his right arm and something fires out of one of his gauntlets. 

The blast connects with Spider-Man less than a couple of feet from Shocker and blasts him backwards onto the roof of someone’s car.

“Oh shit,” Felicia curses.

“Shut up and come on!” Shocker orders her. Felicia has no choice and moves with him as he fires another blast at the main doors of the Oscorp building sending glass and debris flying everywhere. “Everybody down!” Shocker orders the panicked and fleeing staff. Some of the security team rushes at him, but Shocker fires a blast at the ceiling bringing debris down on some of the guards, wounding some and killing others, while his men open fire taking down a few more of the guards.

“I think we’re all clear boss,” one of them says to Shocker.

“Good. Alright, Ms. Hardy. You’re gonna take my boys and I down to your weapons vault. Any surprises and I level this place,” he threatens, but instead of appearing scared, a grin breaks out across Felicia’s face. “What are you smiling about?”

“Hey Quilt-Man!” Spider-Man shouts swinging into the building and lands on a wall a good distance away from Shocker. “Didn’t your mom ever tell you it’s impolite to just leave a superhero fight once it starts? You didn’t even acknowledge me as you left. I gotta say, that really hurts though not quite as much as what you hit me with.”

“I’m The Shocker and my apologies Web-Head. You want a super fight?” Shocker shoves Felicia into the arms of one of his men. “Then let’s go!” Shocker turns and fires a blast at another wall sending debris falling towards innocent civilians. 

Spidey quickly fires several web lines at the civilians and pulls them out of harms way as Shocker aims another blast at one of the injured security guards. Spider-Man jumps off the wall and swings towards the man, grabbing and pulling him out of the way right as Shocker fires missing them by inches. 

“Waste him!” Shocker commands his goons. 

They open fire, but Spider-Man dodges the bullets with swift gracefulness and rushes up a wall while firing a web line that splits up and snares and pulls away two of the armed men’s guns. 

The man holding Felicia lets go of her and aims his machine gun, but Felicia grabs it and hits him in the face with it and, with him caught off guard, she takes hold of the gun again and swings it against his face a second time making him fall down. Felicia turns and makes a run for it, but Shocker sees her and fires a shock blast in her direction. Spidey, however, swingsat and catches her just in time. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” he assures Felicia, who’s too in shock to do anything, but hold on as Spider-Man let’s go of the web he’s swinging from to dodge another blast from Shocker and shoots another one to allow them both to swing back behind the front desk. “Stay here,” he says and leaps back into action. 

He runs across a wall and launches himself at one of the armed men. He unloads every bullet from his gun, but Spider-Man spins and dodges the attack with an inhuman precision before slugging the guy launching him into one of his cohorts. He webs them to the floor, but feels his spider sense tingle, turns to his left, and fires a web into the eyes of another of Shocker’s men blinding him. He swears and drops his gun trying to pull the stuff out of his eyes. Spider-Man just casually walks up to him and pushes him down before webbing him to the floor. 

He then casually throws a punch behind him without looking knocking out one of the men approaching him a knife and snares the last guy trying to make a run for it by his arms with his webs, pulls him to the floor, and webs him down too.

“And that just leaves,” Spidey starts and turns to see Shocker rushing right at him with his fist pulled back for a punch. Spidey throws a punch just as Shocker does and their fists connect. “AHHH!” Spidey cries out from the impact of Shocker’s punch and stumbles back holding his hand. It’s almost gone completely numb from the blow.

“Aw, is the big shot hero hurt?” Shocker mocks and throws out another punch sending the hero flying again and crashing into the front desk.

“Oh…man,” Spider-Man groans pulling himself up. “I gotta say, you pack quite a punch, Padded Pete.”

“IT’S SHOCKER!” Shocker yells and readies for another blast when Spidey fires two webs at both of his gauntlets and in one motion, Spider-Man swings Shocker straight at the elevator doors. Shocker crashes through them and makes a hard impact against the elevator wall. 

Spider-Man slightly stumbles towards the elevator, webs up Shocker by his legs and pulls him over to his position. He turns Shocker onto his back and webs him down to the floor before pulling off both of his gauntlets.

“Wow, I can’t believe you’re still conscious,” Spider-Man observes as Shocker tries in vain to free himself from the webs. “I mean, I put _way_ more effort into that swing than I intended, so I’m glad you aren’t seriously injured, though are injured enough that this fight still isn’t in progress.”

“Do you ever shut up?” Shocker sighs.

“Sorry, my adoring public loves the quips, so I’m obliged to keep them coming. Speaking of which, is everyone alright?” He asks observing the wreckage from the fight. A few members of the Oscorp Staff still in the lobby poke their heads out from where they were hiding and uneasily nod while some check on the injured security guards. When Spidey notices that some of the guards are dead his demeanor and body language changes and he bends down to Shocker’s level.

“Why did you do this?” He questions Shocker.

“This is Oscorp Web-Head. They’ve got hundreds of enemies just waiting to get their hands on the previous loot they’ve got stashed here. They needed someone to break in, so they hired me.”

“Well, I hope went bankrupt paying you, so I don’t have to deal with anymore of you jerks attacking this place again.”

“Trust me when I say that no one would care if something bad happened to this shit hole of a corporation,” Shocker says. Spidey replies by lifting up part of Shocker’s mask and webs his mouth shut.

“Spider-Man.” Spider-Man looks up and sees Felicia supporting herself against the wrecked front desk. “Are…are you alright?” She asks as Spider-Man shakes the hand that Shocker punched.

“Yeah…getting there anyway,” he asks taking in the damage done to the lobby once more. “Are you ok?” 

“Getting there,” she says back with a mild laugh.

“Sorry about the mess. You know, sometimes I wonder if I wasn’t around, then neither would these other destructive super dudes.”

“No, don’t you put this on yourself. It’s all on this company.”

“It sure has a knack for attracting trouble.”

“Why do you think I’m trying to legitimize it? By the way, how _did_ you know to show up at just the right moment anyway?” Felicia asks thinking back to when she thought she saw Spider-Man watching her.

“I-uh, I happened to be in the neighborhood,” he stammers and Felicia just laughs.

“Fine, don’t tell me. I’m still grateful though.”

“Hey, I’m just doing what anyone with Spider powers would,” he replies, but Felicia shakes her head.

“I wish I shared your optimism, but I doubt that.” As Felicia says this, she hears sirens off in the distance. “Guess that’s your cue to leave and be a hero for someone else. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that anyone from The Daily Bugle who shows up knows what you did for us.” 

Spider-Man’s posture perks up when she says this. “You can’t tell, but I’m smiling under this mask. Take care, Ms. Hardy.” And with a friendly wave, he stumbles towards the wrecked front entrance, then takes a running start and swings out of the building and up above the citizens of New York. A smile tugs at and then forms on Felicia’s lips as she watches him disappear into the skyline.


	5. The Calm Before The Storm

"Ow. Ow. Ow," Peter groans as he swings back to his place still feeling the aftershocks from his fight with Shocker.

He can barely swing two feet without his body aching in pain. It had been quite some time since he hurt like this and it wasn't a feeling he welcomed back with open arms. He's lucky he didn't break any bones during the fight. Definitely didn't want to explain that one to Aunt May.

_Where do the heck did he even come from?_ Peter wonders.  _Can't pin the blame on Oscorp this time given how Mr. Triple Fly was attacking them, but who could have supplied him with his tech?_ He continues to wonder as he reaches his home. He pulls out his cellphone and checks the time on it.

It's fairly late in the afternoon meaning May should still be out at the hospital. Nevertheless, he cautiously enters through the window, but he does not feel his spider sense tingle, meaning the coast is clear. He takes out his automatic camera from his suit and then quickly changes out of his costume and stuffs it in his secret hiding spot. He hooks his camera up to his laptop and starts to transfer the photos between the two machines, so he can email them to the Jolly Jonah Jameson later.

_Wouldn't it be hilarious if that's what the first J. in his name stood for?_  Peter thought and then wondered how Jameson would react to the photos he took.

He certainly would like the footage Peter got from outside Oscorp as the battle began particularly after the only news Oscorp generated that he could get photos of since Felicia's press conference was a few charity events and a few other mundane things here or there. On the other hand, Peter did have a nagging feeling that Jameson would be less than pleased that he couldn't get any pictures from when the fight moved inside of the building. That was the only reason he decided to stick around and take photos of the fight's aftermath.

_I'll make up some sort of excuse for why I didn't go inside until later,_  Peter decides as he stops on a picture he took of Felicia after various news teams showed up at Oscorp to interview her about the confrontation.

The medics wanted to load her up on an ambulance right away, but she had them tend to the other injured parties first while she briefly spoke to the press about what happened.

True to her word, she had nothing, but glowing praise to give Spider-Man for his actions while throwing some vague shade towards The Daily Bugle. Once again, Felicia's words put a brief smile on Peter's face and he began to almost feel bad for how much he laughed during her takeover of Oscorp press conference; keyword being 'almost'.

Then again, Peter realizes that he should hope beyond hope that Felicia really is serious about the company turning over a new leaf. After all, the last thing he needed to deal with was both Oscorp  _and_ whatever organization sent Shocker. But still, he couldn't shake out of his mind how Oscorp lead to the creation of not one, but FOUR supervillains. That's not something one just ignores. But he also couldn't just ignore how easy going he and Felicia briefly spoke with one another and how there was legitimate sincerity in her voice.

All of this back and forth on Oscorp makes Peter's pounding head just ache even more and he decides to take a shower and wash away the markings of the morning/afternoon patrol. Peter braced himself for more pain as the water from the shower hit his body, but after a minute, he adjusted to the feeling and started to relax a little; wondering how Ms. Hardy was doing right this moment.

* * *

"I can't believe you actually got to fly with Spider-Man!" Deborah squeales over the phone.

"It was only for a few seconds," Felicia clarifies as she rested in her hospital bed; parts of her face stitched up from the crash and her sprained arm in a sling.

"A few seconds longer than most people in this city. I'm  _so_  jealous of you."

"My life was in danger, so I think you might want to hold back on that jealousy."

"Nope, still jealous," Deborah laughs. "Soooo, what was he like?"

"Are you seriously ignoring that I could've been killed?"

"The key word is 'could've'. However, since you are very much alive, I feel no shame in finding out how you feel about an opportunity most people in this city don't get to experience," was Deborah's response and Felicia sighs figuring she will keep this up all day until she gets a response.

"Fine, he was…well, he sounded like a regular guy beneath the mask instead of a larger than life superhero."

"That sounds kind of anti-climatic to be honest."

"I can feel the disappointment dripping through the phone. But if you ask me, that's a good thing. Spider-Man isn't putting himself above the people of the city. He sounded like someone that's helping out because it's the right thing to do. Like I said before, there's something to admire in that."

"Right. Just 'Admire'," Deborah says.

"I'm hanging up now before you say what I think you're going to say. Don't you have a class to get ready for anyway?"

"Ok, ok, I surrender," Deborah mock gives up on her side of the call.

"By the way, before I do hang up, you aren't going to belief this, but you remember that photographer from the Daily Bugle I told you about?"

"Yeah. What about the little jerk?"

"He showed up to take pictures of the Spider-Man/Shocker fight's aftermath and, first off, he looked kind of sore, like he had been in a fight or something."

"Maybe that was karma kicking in."

"Maybe, but the weird part was, well, would you believe he actually looked concerned when he saw the damage from the fight?"

"Seriously?"

"I was surprised as you are especially considering how during the times I've seen him taking pictures at some of Oscorp's charity events, he either looked blatantly disinterested or had this condescending look on his face."

"Stranger things have happened before, I suppose, but you're right, I actually do have a class to get ready for, so I will chat with you later. Bye and hope you recover fast, Felicia."

"Thanks. I'll see you later." Felicia hangs up and sets her phone aside; breathing a sigh of relief at being able to end the conversation before Deborah could go all high school gossip girl about her maybe or maybe not having a crush on Spider-Man again. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Felicia looked towards it to see a nurse standing just outside her room holding a tray of food.

"Um, hi. I'm May Parker. I've just come to bring you your dinner," she says, doing her best to put on a smile despite hearing part of Felicia's conversation about her nephew.

"Thank you, Ms. Parker," Felicia says.

"Mrs. Parker, actually," May corrects her with an awkward smile. Felicia puts on an equally awkward smile when she recalls seeing the last name 'Parker' on the press badge of the photographer she was just talking about. She wondered if this woman was related to him in some fashion. His mother maybe?

Neither woman decides to press the matter any further as May does not want to say anything that could make her lose her job and Felicia didn't want to accidentally cause a scene. They both nod to one another once the food tray is set down and as May is about to leave the room, Felicia notices a piece of paper tucked underneath her plate and pulls it out.

"What's that?" May asks noticing the note. Felicia unfolds the note revealing a single sentence.

**Be better prepared next time**

**\- G.F.**

"Nothing. Just someone wishing me well," Felicia lies.

She spots a knowing look in May's eyes, but gives a mental sigh of relief when the other woman goes along with her lie and leaves her to her food. Once May leaves, Felicia reaches back for her phone and begins to dial Smythe's number. Just as she prepares to call him, however, she stops and cancels the call. She knows it won't be safe to try and reach Smythe while in the hospital. Not when Fiers might be watching and monitoring her right now.

Or so she thinks. She could just be being paranoid again. Maybe. She never did consider until now that Shocker attacked shortly after she tested to see if her apartment was bugged. True the attack didn't come until three days after she lied, but Fiers always could've waited to lure Felicia into a false sense of security and take suspicion off himself.

The constant back and forth made her head hurt and so she skipped her dinner and rested her head against her pillow. It took a minute or two to adjust, but she found herself starting to relax and drifting off to sleep; wondering how Spider-Man was doing right this moment.

**To Be Continued…**


	6. Apologies

Felicia wanted to leave the hospital the very day she was admitted, sprained arm and other small injuries be damned, but her doctor eventually persuaded her to stay as he wanted to make she hadn’t gotten a concussion from the head injury she received from the car crash. Four days passed and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so Felicia was preparing to leave that day. She was nervous, however, about what kind of business the members of the board had been up to since her admittance to the hospital. She received no calls from Smythe regarding any suspicious activity, but that honestly did jack squat to calm her fears. She could feel pain coursing through her sprained arm from her restless thoughts and tried to think of anything else to calm her down. 

_You can’t tell, but I’m smiling under this mask,_ she remembers. Of course, her thoughts would drift back to Spider-Man.

“Ms. Hardy?” 

“Mrs. Parker. I didn’t think I’d see you again before I left today,” Felicia says sitting up more straight in her bed as May approaches her. 

Seeing May’s face also made Felicia feel less on edge and she felt a small smile form on her own face. Despite the two of them getting off to an awkward start, over the course of her time in the hospital, Felicia couldn’t deny that May was a kind woman from how she brought Felicia her dinner the same time everyday and checked over her sprained arm and how her facial injuries were healing. She possessed a maternal aura that Felicia found almost foreign, but appreciated at the same time after dealing almost exclusively with the Oscorp staff these past several months.

“I just wanted to make sure you were alright one more time before you left,” May says returning Felicia’s smile. 

“Thanks...I owe you an apology, Mrs. Parker.”

“What for?”

“The day we met, you heard some of the conversation I was having with my friend about a photographer from the Daily Bugle didn’t you?” May nods at this. “The times I’ve seen him, I noticed the last name ‘Parker’ on his press badge. Is he your son?”

“He’s my nephew actually, but I’ve raised him since he was a little boy, so you can say that’s he’s my son in everything, but name.” 

That revelation makes Felicia feel even worse. “I’m sorry about what I said about him seeming actually concerned that people were hurt from Shocker’s attack. It’s just that running Oscorp already causes me enough stress without people acting like I’m not sincere about bringing the company into the light.”

“I understand Ms. Hardy and, you know, I suppose I owe you an apology too for the amount of times my nephew laughed at the events he’s covered. But I ask that you forgive him for that. Oscorp just isn’t one of his favorite places right now.”

“It’s _nobody’s_ favorite place. Not after what Harry did,” Felicia sighs looking away from May. “I’d always been a bit of a wallflower before Harry came to Oscorp. He was the first person to notice me and for the first time, I thought my life might be looking up.” 

“Were you close?” May asks.

“Sort of. I was still pretty much his assistant, but he did treat me better than his father or anyone else at Oscorp ever did. It felt nice and so I tried to help him out with some of his own personal problems, but then…then it all went to Hell,” Felicia says remembering how she told Harry where he could locate the spider venom to heal himself. 

Felicia blamed Donald for Harry’s actions, but in a way, she was just as much responsible for them. She feels tears briefly rolling down her cheeks and she wipes them away embarrassed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bore you with the details of my life. I just haven’t had that many people to talk to that I didn’t feel suspicious of outside of my best and kind of only friend.”

“Hey,” May says placing a comforting hand on Felicia’s shoulder. “Letting things out canhelp out a lot. Even if you are opening up to a stranger. Speaking from experience,” May laughs and Felicia gives a small giggle herself. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Parker.”

“Anytime.”

* * *

 

“Well, you seem like you’re in a good mood,” Deborah comments as she arrives in the lobby to collect Felicia. 

“I kind of am,” Felicia says hugging her with her good arm. “I’ll tell you about it later.” The two of them head into the parking lot and step inside Deborah’s car.

“By the way, look who I brought,” Deborah says turning Felicia’s attention to the back seat. Felicia gives a playful gasp at what she sees. 

“Chris! Oh, how long has it been?” She asks excitedly scooping Deborah’s black cat into her arms. She gives Chris a long hug and he purrs in appreciation. “Sounds like someone missed me,” Felicia says giving a relaxed laugh.

“He’s not the only one. Without you and your smarts around, I came to realize just how idiotic everyoneelse around me really is,” Deborah jokes. "So, where to now?  Home? You’re probably dying to sleep in your own bed now.”

“There’s actually someplace else I want you to take me first,” Felicia reveals.

* * *

 

**Ravencroft Institute**

Felicia heard stories about Ravencroft and honestly, none of them prepared her for the real thing. Armed guards patrolled almost every part of the outer perimeter. More guards patrolled the building from within; nothing, but dark corridors from top to bottom. It was like this place was designed to intimidate outsiders. It certainly was doing its job. There were so many guards present that she was caught off guard when she spotted a few psychiatrists traversing the halls as well. At least that’s what Felicia hoped they were.

_Relax, Felicia. Relax,_ she thinks while following a guard past a few locked doors into one of the most secure wings in the building. 

_What kind of people are they holding here? You’d think it was made to hold super villains,_ Felicia continues to think as they reach their destination.

“Hey Osborn. You have a visitor,” the guard announces from outside the door. Felicia looks over the guard’s shoulder and peers through the door’s small window, spotting Harry sitting up from his bed and glancing at them. The guard opens the door and Felicia steps inside; Harry getting out of bed and approaching the wall of glass that separates him from Felicia.

“Well, well, well. This is a nice surprise,” Harry says with a grin.

“Harry,” Felicia says while the guard shuts the door behind them.

“I’ll be right here, Miss,” the guard informs Felicia from the other side of the door and she gives him a nod before turning back to look Harry over. 

He looks relatively normal compared to the night he attacked Oscorp aside from his finger nails appearing longer and a few dark patches of green on the visible parts of his body. There was also a certain piercing glow in Harry’s eyes. Felicia wondered if that glow was always there or if it was a result of the venom.

“So, Felicia. You never call, you never write. I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me. I sure haven’t forgotten about you.”

“I know. I guessed that when Mr. Fiers broke into my apartment.”

“I’m sorry, who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. He already told me he is working for you. And when I came here, the staff told me he was the only other person besides myself that you would allow to come visit,” Felicia revealed. This made Harry laugh slightly.

“Well it looks like you caught me. I’m sorry about Fiers breaking into your home, by the way. Subtlety never was his strongest suit with this whole 'man in the shadows' routine he sometimes uses.”

“Harry, as much as I appreciate you having someone looking after me, it’s not necessary.”

“Oh, I think it is.” Harry turns away from Felicia and goes back to his bed. He scoops up a newspaper from it and presses it against the glass. It’s yesterday’s issue of The Daily Bugle with a photo of Wilson Fisk on the front page. “Looks like one of the members of the board decided to take advantage of your temporary absence from the company. You don’t have to worry about much. He just gave a small interview during the cleanup following Shocker’s attack, but here’s the part that interests me the most,” Harry says and then begins to read from the paper. 

_ **Eddie Brock:** **When questioned about if there were any plans to resume the bio-experiments halted by Ms. Felicia Hardy, this was Mr. Fisk’s reply.** _

_ **Wilson Fisk: I cannot speak for Ms. Hardy, but I would certainly hope so. I understand her reservations about the experiments given the trouble they have caused us in the past, but there are still many benefits to them. Who knows, we could even find ourselves creating another Spider-Man.** _

_ **Eddie Brock: Wait, are you saying that Spider-Man was created by Oscorp?** _

_ **Wilson Fisk: Oh no. Of course not. I’m sure if he was one of ours, someone would’ve taken credit for it by now. Then again, this company has been good at keeping secrets.** _

“That’s enough,” Felicia cuts off.

“I was finished anyway,” Harry says tossing the newspaper aside. “Guess you need that extra pair of eyes out there with you after all. And speaking of eyes,” Harry starts then gets closer to the glass. “Yours certainly look different from the first time we met. I’m not sure what it is, but I like it.”

“I didn’t come here to talk about that, Harry.”

“What did you come to talk about then?”

“First off, for you to get Fiers off my back. Knowing he’s out there possibly watching my every move is more than a little creepy.”

“I think recent events showed that its best that you have someone keeping an eye on you.”

“I beg to differ, but the other thing I wanted to say was…I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Harry looks completely taken aback; almost as if he's never heard the words ‘I’m sorry’ before in his life. “Sorry for what?”

“It’s partially my fault you’re in here. I didn’t think about what the spider venom could do to you when I told you about it. I was just wanted to help because you were the first person to notice me at Oscorp. And then I never came to see you when they locked you up in here. I guess I was just so shocked by what you did and obsessed with getting back at Donald and then improving Oscorp’s image with the public that I never stopped to think about you and what you might be going through in here.”

“I wouldn’t want to think about me either if I were in your shoes, Felicia, but you don’t have to apologize. The venom didn’t make me do anything.”

“I’m aware of that, but I can’t pretend like my hands are 100% clean.”

“Well, let me first say that it was hard to not notice you given how you were the only person in that first meeting not looking at me with a passive aggressive sneer. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry too.”

“Sorry for what?”

“Sorry for how things worked out at Oscorp. If I wasn’t so obsessed with curing my disease, I would’ve noticed from a mile away that Donald was planning on getting rid of me. If I was still there, you and I, we could’ve become real friends and then legitimately owned this city together. Made an Oscorp that was 100 times the company dear old dad made. But now, now I’ll have to settle for some underhanded methods to get what I want.”

Felicia silently sighs and turns away from Harry. It’s true that she does feel partially responsible for Harry’s condition, but she can’t deny that he’s right. The venom didn’t make him do anything in the end. It was all him; at least that’s how it seems. She takes another deep breath and faces Harry again. 

“I don’t know if this is you or the venom talking Harry, but I don’t want any part of this.” 

“I figured as much, but don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

That was enough for Felicia. “Guard,” she calls out and the guard opens the door for her. Before she leaves, Felicia says one final thing. “I really do hope that the doctors here help you find sanity again.”

“Oh, you’re gonna be hoping for a long time, Felicia,” Harry says mischievously. 

“What? Why?”

* * *

 

**The Daily Bugle**

“You want to run that by me again, Mr. Jameson?” Peter asks feeling dumbstruck. 

“I said that Osborn guy is due to be transferred out of Ravencroft soon to a regular maximum security prison and when that happens, I want you to be present and get pictures. Did you get it that time Parker, because I am not going to repeat myself.”

“B-but, why? Harry’s clearly not in his right mind. Why would they transfer him?”

“According to sources at the Institute, the doctors have decided that Osborn is in fact, very much IN his right mind after all, hence the transfer.”

“Something isn’t right about this Mr. Jameson. I mean, who reported on this anyway?”

“Hey everyone!” A loud voice mixed with a hint of obnoxiousness announces making Peter cringe. He knew and dreaded that voice every day.

“Eddie,” Peter grumbles looking out Jameson’s office window and spotting him heading straight in their direction. 

“Mr. Jameson, wonderful to see you this morning,” he says, entering Jameson’s office and casually ignoring Peter. “Fear not, I did not waltz into your office to waste your time. I’m merely here to say that I’ve begun work on my next big expose regarding Oscorp’s ties to Spider-Man.”

_Oh, if he only knew_ , Peter thinks with a roll of his eyes. 

“Let me guess, Eddie’s the one that found out about Harry’s transfer?” Peter asks.

“Parker? Didn’t notice you were there. The answer to your question is ‘yes’ by the way. Someone in this Newspaper needs to get some actual results regarding our illustrious leader’s demands for more stories regarding Oscorp and anything associated or once associated with it.” Peter glances at Jameson out of the corner of his eyes and gives a small smirk at their boss showing mild annoyance at Eddie’s transparent attempts at flattery and showboating nature.

“If that’s all you have to say Brock, then will you kindly get out of my office?”

“No problem JJ. The news never sleeps after all,” Eddie declares and leaves the room with faux confidence dripping with every step he took. “Later Parker,” he adds slapping Peter’s shoulder.

“He’s just the worst isn’t he?” Peter asks once Eddie leaves the room. 

“You’ll both be covering the transfer, Parker.”

_How did I not see that coming?_ Peter thinks.

“I’ll trust you’ll be objective the day the transfer happens?”

“Of course. You can always count on me,” Peter says praying he doesn’t sound like he’s begrudgingly accepting the assignment. 

“Good. That will be all. Get out of my office,” he orders and then like always, immediately turns his attention to his computer without even checking to see if Peter has anything else to say. 

Peter does as he’s told and leaves the room; feeling himself shaking somewhat from the assignment given.

“Hey Peter. You ok?” Robbie asks.

“Yeah, of course. It’s just, oh you know old JJ. Giving people assignments they can’t objectively handle to toughen them up and all that jazz. I shouldn’t be surprised in the slightest.”

“What does he have you doing now?” Betty asks.

“Getting pictures of Harry Osborn’s transfer from Ravencroft to a regular maximum security prison.”

“He _what_?” Robbie asks just barely catching himself from shouting.

“It’s nothing Robbie. I need the money, s-so I’m gonna do it. Alright?”

“You should at least get paid more for doing it. In fact, I’m gonna make sure you do,” he decides already stepping towards Jameson’s office.

“Hold on, Robbie. I don’t need you getting into any trouble on my account, or worse, getting fired,” Peter says holding him back. “If that happens, who’s gonna protect the well meaning denizens of the Bugle,” he jokes to try and ease the tension.

Robbie sighs. “You’re a good guy, you know that, Peter?”

“So I’ve been told,” Peter says with a half smile.

“No, you really are, Pete,” Betty says holding his hand. “Always remember that. This city needs as many good people as it can get.”

“Thanks you two. That really means a lot,” he tells his two friends giving them a sad smile.

* * *

 

**Oscorp**

_ **Welcome Felicia Hardy** _

The security doors of Oscorp’s Special Projects division open after Felicia enters her security card and password. She steps off the elevator and heads for a door at the end of the hallway. She spares passing glances at the rooms contained the still confiscated weapons as she does so, but then stops in front of a door labeled **Room 0308**. Compared to the other see through rooms, this one is covered by a large steel plated door. Not that Felicia wanted to personally see what was in the room. From the security footage she saw, it wasn’t pretty.

She checks the power reader on the door and observes that it is still at 100%. She presses her palm against a scanner beside the door, which brings up a small log on the door’s monitor. Felicia enters into it the time that the door was checked and then quickly moves along towards her original destination at the end of the hall. She opens that door and steps into a dimly lit, but spacious laboratory. Felicia reaches over to the light dimmer and turns it to the right fully illuminating the room along with Smythe in its center. He flinches at the sudden change in light, but smiles when he sees Felicia. 

“Hello Felicia,” he greets.

“Smythe. You know, I’m never going to understand how ‘dark atmospheric light’ helps you with your work.”

“Inspiration comes in many forms, Felicia.”

“And is that inspiration helping you with your latest project?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, though I do apologize for how long it has taken me. Turns out reverse engineering the technology from Harry’s battle suit for more medical and less combative purposes was a bit more challenging than I thought.”

“I’m sure you’re doing your best, but right now, there’s something else I need you to work on too.”

“And what would that be?” 

“Security. We need to be prepared for anything else like Shocker attacking Oscorp, so I’m putting you in charge of strengthening our defenses. Not just that, but I also need for you to design a way for us to keep tabs on the members of the board. You do this for me and I will un-confiscate all of your research.”

Smythe’s eyes instantly brighten up at Felicia’s offer and she can already feel regret forming at the back of her mind. She knows that Smythe plus his research equals bad news for Oscorp’s reputation, but right now she needs his mind to prepare for whatever threat Harry might pose.

“Just remember Smythe, what we’re doing is still for the good of the people, so don’t get too wrapped up in your research.”

“With all due respect, weapons design is what this company was built on, Felicia.”

“And it’s also what nearly drove it under, so again, don’t get too carried away with it,” she sternly orders him.

“Understood,” he complies; failing to hide the mild resentment in his voice. 

“Good.” Felicia turns on her heels and leaves Smythe to resume his work in the lab; taking note of the resentment she heard in his voice as she does.

“Worry about that later,” she tells herself knowing that any threats Harry could pose to the company are far more important to worry about than Smythe being upset with her.

_And besides, if Harry escapes and goes on another rampage here, Smythe is just as much a target as everyone else. Surely he’ll realize that and do his best work to ensure no harm befalls the company. Surely…right?_

Felicia realizes she’s stopped walking and can feel pain shooting through her arm again. She swallows thickly and rubs her throat as her anxiety starts to build.

_Calm down, Felicia. You were brave enough to take this job from Donald. You kept your composure against Shocker. This is nothing. Say it._

“This is nothing,” she repeats aloud. Felicia opens her eyes and realizes she’s standing in front of vault **0194**. “It’s practically fate,” she whispers and unlocks the vault. There’s a small suitcase contained within the vault. Felicia takes it and rides the elevator out of Special Projects with a determined look in her eyes. 

**To Be Continued…**


	7. Preparing for the Storm

**Three Weeks Later**

Peter sits in his father’s secret lab looking over his web shooters and then at a target he set up at the other end.

“Impact webbing, trial number, um…35,” Peter sighs to himself loading a fresh web cartridge into the his web shooter.

Peter carefully aims at the target, crosses his fingers with his other hand and quickly taps the web shooter’s trigger. A small web ball launches from it and zips across the room within seconds. It connects with the target and bounces off it right back at Peter colliding with his forehead and knocking him off his chair. As Peter hits to the floor, the little web ball bounces all over the small lab until Peter stands up and snatches the it out of midair. He opens his hand expecting to see the web ball now turned into a web blob, but surprisingly enough, it’s still in the shape of a ball.

Peter rubs the stinging part of his forehead that the ball struck while turning over to his notebook and taking something down.

**Keep track of this web formula. Might be able to make use of it.**

After making that note, he starts going back over his impact web formula to try and figure out what went wrong this time. He intended to develop a new batch of webbing for sometime now and after learning of Harry’s transfer, figured there was no time like the present. Granted, he had no evidence that Harry might try to escape during the transfer, but sometimes paranoia could be a healthy thing. Truth be told, however, he felt guilty for how he just assumed that Harry would be planning an escape attempt like something out of a comic book. 

Peter remembers the anger and rage in Harry’s voice as the police took him away and how he swore revenge, but several months have passed since then. Enough time for one to reconsider their hostile feelings.

_Yeah, right. In your dreams Parker,_ Peter thinks.

He wishes he could visit Harry and try to apologize to him while also getting an idea as to just what his current mental state was, but Harry wouldn’t allow him to see him. Even then, Felicia said that Oscorp was no longer affiliated with Harry, so if he wanted to escape, he can’t count on them to act as allies decreasing his chances of getting away. And there’s no other organizations in town that would benefit from aiding Harry either…as far as Peter knew. Speaking of other organizations, there hadn’t been any other attempts to break into Oscorp since Shocker, meaning Peter either scared them all off, or they’re just biding their time. 

_I was wrong. There’s nothing healthy about paranoia,_ Peter mutters in his thoughts. 

He then wonders if maybe he should pay Felicia a visit as Spider-Man and ask her if she had interacted with Harry recently and if he had been acting suspicious as one of Eddie’s reports mentioned that she was one of only two people Harry permitted to visit him at Ravencroft. But he knew he couldn’t do such a thing. Felicia had enough on her plate already with ‘Operation Legitimize Oscorp’. She didn’t need anymore burdens.

Dealing with Harry is his responsibility alone. So if he tries to escape, new webbing developed or not, Peter will be ready for him.If he doesn’t, he’ll be grateful…for about sixty-seconds and then he’ll go back to feeling guilty for failing his friend.

“I need air,” he says to no one in particular. 

Not feeling anything trigger his spider sense, he opens up the entrance to his father’s lab and climbs out. He slings his backpack, his costume inside, over his shoulder and heads for the city streets, hoping some late night crime fighting will ease his nerves. ****

* * *

 

Felicia breathes deeply. Her fists clench and unclench. Her eyes focusing intently on her opponent, who stands completely straight, arms hanging at her side as if daring Felicia to make the first move; so she does. Felicia runs forward and throws out a punch at her opponent, but she dodges it and Felicia’s follow up punch with ease. The other woman throws out her own punch, but Felicia catches it almost on instinct with her left hand. She winces from the pain she feels in her not fully healed arm and her opponent grabs said arm, twists Felicia around, and pins her left arm behind her. Felicia tries to elbow her opponent with her other arm, but the woman stops the blow quite easily. With both her arms caught, Felicia bends her head backwards striking her opponent in the face making her groan and stumble back, freeing Felicia.

The woman gets her balance back in seconds, however, and throws a kick at Felicia’s head, which she only barely dodges and goes on the attack again with a punch aimed for the woman’s face. She sidesteps Felicia’s punch, grabs her arm, and roughly brings her down to the floor pinning her down.

“Damn it!” Felicia shouts from the pain shooting in her arm and taps the floor. 

Her opponent nods, releases Felicia, and helps her up to her feet. “You could take it a little easy on my left arm you know; just a suggestion,” Felicia says rubbing her aching body part.

“You can’t count on muggers or other people that wish to do you harm to play fair, Felicia.”

“I know, I know,” Felicia sighs. “It still hurts though, Ms. DeWolff.”

“Come on, Felicia,” DeWolff laughs. “Right now, in here, it’s just Jean,” she reminds her.

“I’ll be sure to remember that next time,” Felicia groans again. The two women take a seat in the deserted gym they’re in and DeWolff passes a bottle of water over to Felicia. “Thanks,” she says opening and taking a sip of the water.

“You’re welcome,” DeWolff replies, drinking some water herself. After taking a few more sips, the two women sit in the gym in silence for another minute or two as they catch their breath.

Felicia could almost picture Deborah’s disapproving glance at her doing this despite her arm having not fully healed, but after Harry’s threat, Felicia couldn’t just sit around and wait for any other possible attacks. So she’s spent the past three weeks taking self defense lessons from one of New York’s Finest, Detective Jean DeWolff; a thirty something tough girl with fiery looks and a strength to match.

“So, how did I do today?” Felicia asks breaking the silence. 

“Not gonna lie, your offensive technique still needs a lot of work. Sure a random mugger’s technique is nothing compared to someone like me, but it’s better to be at your best even for the mundane.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. We’ve only been at this for a few weeks. I do have to say that your reflexes have improved quite a bit since we started.”

“They surprised me too. It feels like there was another sense guiding me almost. I’m not sure what it is, but I like it.”

“You keep this up and you’ll be faster than me. Eventually,” DeWolff lightly laughs.

“Thanks, but this isn’t about one-upmanship. I’m just trying to be prepared for what’s out there. I can’t thank you enough for agreeing to help me, by the way. I know you probably have more important matters to deal with.”

“I’m happy to help, though really, I should be thanking you in fact,” DeWolff reveals.

“Really? Why?” Felicia asks.

“Because of what you did for the hospital. That invention you gave it to help people out with their physical therapy. One of my friends who was hurt a few weeks back was the first to try it out. He thinks it’s amazing; spectacular even.”

“Thanks, but I told him and everyone at the hospital that it was supposed to be a quiet donation.”

“Hey, news travels fast when people are grateful,” was DeWolff’s reply and Felicia feels a small smile grace her lips and thinks back to what’s transpired across these three weeks. 

She remembers how Smythe kicked it into high gear when she told him about un-confiscating his research. How he finished reverse engineering some of Harry’s battle armor in just five days. She remembers not wanting to test it at Oscorp, but also being wary of testing outside of Oscorp too. She knew the board could easily find someway to sabotage any tests inside the company, but any failed tests outside of it could reflect badly on her and result in them trying to remove her from the company in some shape, way, or form. Then again, there was also the possibility that they would do nothing and this was all in Felicia’s head. She hated still feeling paranoid after all this time, but she couldn’t help it especially after she visited Harry and how smug he seemed about his imprisonment; like any day, he’ll break out. Maybe even before the day of his transfer.

“Felicia?” She hears DeWolff ask. Felicia shakes her head, realizing that she’s been staring off into space. 

“Sorry, my thoughts were just occupied by the board members at Oscorp,” she apologizes. 

“Judging by the look of apprehension on your face, I’m gonna guess it’s a sausage-fest and they don’t take you seriously. Am I right?”

“More or less, though I think it’s more that they just don’t like that someone as young as I am is running things over me being a woman. Then again, you never know."

“Well, whatever the reason is, don’t let it get to you. Back at the station, more than a few of the sexists pricks have referred to me as Humphrey Bogart behind my back because of how I like to dress. Sure it pisses me off, but there’s no better way to quell the voice of workplace assholes than to do well at your job.”

“Part of me thinks that would make them want to get rid of me even more.”

“Then show them you aren’t afraid to kick the hornet’s nest. A little show of force can go a long way, trust me.”

Felicia remembered Harry’s display of force when he first spoke to Donald and how the latter responded by framing him and kicking the dying man out of the company. She felt sick just thinking about it. So she stood up and walked over to the punching bag hanging in the gym.

“Let’s keep going,” she says. DeWolff nods, walks behind the punching bag, and holds it in place.

“Ok, give me 100. And, GO!” Felicia starts punching the bag, but it’s not fast enough for DeWolff and she slaps the bag. “Faster!” 

Felicia remembers the irritating satisfaction on Donald’s face when he fired Harry.

“Faster!” 

She remembers the sneers from the other board members when she took over.

“Faster!”

She remembers the pain she felt from Shocker’s van crashing into her car. The glass cutting across her skin and thinking her arm was broken.

“You want to be ready for what’s out there, then come on! FASTER!”

Felicia yells out and strikes the bag hard with her injured hand. The bag strikes DeWolff and she goes off her feet and hits the floor; her heart beating a mile a minute from that strike.

“Ok...ow. I said faster, not harder,” DeWolff says rubbing the part of her face the bag hit. “I didn’t know you had that in you. Remind me never to make you angry.”

Felicia, however, just stands there panting heavily while clenching and unclenching her fist. Her arm stings with each breath she takes, but she keeps it steady to keep the pain to a minimum. She glances over at DeWolff pulling herself back up and then looks back at her arm again. DeWolff watches her and spots a small, but almost angry look in Felicia’s eyes.

“Um, Felicia,” DeWolff starts, slightly taken aback by this change in Felicia’s demeanor. “We can call it a night if you want.”

“No,” Felicia replies. “I’m all fired up now.” She takes another fighting stance before the punching bag. “Let’s keep going.”

“Alright, just do me a favor and warn me before you sucker punch the bag again.”

“I make no promises,” Felicia says and DeWolff can’t tell if she’s joking or not. 

They go at this for another hour. DeWolff forgoes trying to goad Felicia again and lets her go at her own pace through the remainder of the session. Observing how through the hour, whatever adrenaline high Felicia was on, she was coming back down now.

“Hey Felicia,” DeWolff calls out as Felicia collects her stuff and heads for the exit once they finish.

“Yeah,” she says looking back. 

“Take it easy, ok. Don’t want you doing anything that could wind up breaking your arm.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that, but I appreciate your concern. You have a good rest of the night, Jean. Tell the guys at the station I said hi. Well, except for the sexist ones. See you tomorrow.”

“Right, tomorrow,” DeWolff says to herself once Felicia leaves.

_Note to self. Keep an eye on Ms. Hardy._

* * *

 

It was dark out as Felicia left the gym and heads for her car; gym bag slung over her shoulder and walking at a brisk pace. Her thoughts going back to the punch that knocked DeWolff down. She hadn’t meant to punch the bag as hard as she did. Then again, she didn’t think she could even hit that hard. Yet somehow she did and she liked it.

_I hope I didn’t freak out DeWolff with that little display of force,_ Felicia thinks. 

She reaches her car and goes for her keys in her bag when she spots something in her car side mirror; or more specially someone. Whomever they are, they’re getting closer to where Felicia stands and they’re holding something…a knife?

Felicia feels her left arm tense up again and prepares to defend herself when a shadow passes overhead and a webline catches and hoists the would-be mugger off the ground. Felicia turns around and grins at the sight of Spider-Man perched on top of a streetlight with the other guy just underneath him.

“You freak! Let me down!” The guy shouts at Spider-Man, who just wags his finger at him.

“Relax, that webbing will melt in a couple of hours. And maybe this will teach you a lesson about trying to sneak up on pretty ladies in the middle of the night while holding a knife,” Spider-Man says then hops off the lamp and lands before Felicia. “Ms. Hardy, nice to see you again.”

“Spider-Man. Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but have you been following me?”

She really hoped she didn’t sound like that, but after thinking she saw him watching her the day Shocker attacked, him coming to the rescue minutes later, and now this, she felt like she had to ask. Spider-Man raises his right hand as if he’s speaking under oath.

“I promise you, this is a legitimate coincidence, Ms. Hardy.”

“I wouldn’t buy that lady,” the mugger says and Spidey, without even turning around, fires a bit of webbing at the man’s mouth shutting him up. Felicia laughs and gives a light applause.

“Thank you, thank you,” Spidey says with a bow then looks Felicia over in her gym attire. “Wow, it is true what they say about how people in power look outside of their natural habitat.”

“What do they look like?” Felicia asks leaning against her car.

“Like everyone else.”

“There’s a normal person behind every figure of power. Some people are just more open about the fact than others. Just look at yourself for example.”

“Excuse me?” He asks.

“Your voice. You sound just like everyone else. I like it.”

Peter smiles underneath his mask. “You can’t tell, but…”

“Actually, I think I can tell this time,” Felicia cuts off imagining the smile under Spidey’s mask while rubbing her arm slightly.

“Gotta say, I’m a little surprised to see you coming out of a gym. Thought you’d want to keep any stress of that arm for a while after what Shocker did.”

“It still stings, but the damage wasn’t as bad as I thought. I could say the same about you or do your injuries heal differently compared to use mere mortals,” Felicia jokes and Spider-Man laughs at that making her smile too when the pair hears police sirens in the distance. Spidey looks towards the sounds of the sirens and then back at Felicia. 

“Go get’em, Spidey,” she encourages. 

Spidey gives her a nod before taking a running start and webbing himself over to the closest building and swinging off for the source of the disturbance; Felicia watching him until he disappears from sight.

“Oh my God,” she hears the muffled voice of the mugger groan and she glances back up at him.

“You know, I was gonna call the police, so they’d come and cut you down, but I think I’ll just let you hang there until that webbing melts,” Felicia says opening her car door.

“You bitch!” His muffled voice curses. Felicia ignores him, gets in her car, and drives back home.

* * *

 

Felicia gets home, takes a quick shower, and lies awake on her bed too focused on her second brief meeting with Spider-Man to sleep. She wonders how many people in town get to see him more than once. She makes a mental note to brag about this to Deborah later even if it means possibly admitting that she does indeed have a crush on Spider-Man.

_You can think about that later, Felicia,_ she decides and when she figures that sleep won’t be coming anytime soon, she rolls off of bed and goes over to her laptop. 

She turns it on and goes to check her email to see if Smythe sent her any messages. There’s nothing. Felicia can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. 

_Either there’s nothing to report on the members of the board today, or he’s holding out on me,_ she thinks. 

She can feel her nerves bubbling to the surface again and walks back over to her bed. She goes under it and pulls out the case she stole from Special Projects. She opens the case revealing an injection gun and 6 vials with a black and white liquid in them, one of which is half depleted. She loads the vile into the gun and holds it over a vein in her left arm. She takes a deep breath, pushes the needle into the vein and injects the remainder of the substance into her body.

“Whoa!” she exhales as the contents of the vial make their way into her body; her left hand clenching even harder than before and then unclenching about thirty-seconds later.

_It’s better to be at your best, even for the mundane,_ she remembers.

_Don’t worry, DeWolff. I’ll be better than my best._

**To Be Continued…**


	8. The Hornet's Nest

“Hey, Aunt May,” Peter announces as he arrives back at their place following another two hours of patrolling the city. “Aunt May?” He repeats when he doesn’t hear her voice then notices her asleep on their couch.

_Parker, you idiot. How could you forget about her late shift at the hospital today?_ Peter mentally berates himself. 

He figures he better not do anything to disturb May and slowly starts to sneak by her to his bedroom.

“It’s too late for stealth, young man,” May says without even opening her eyes making Peter stop dead in his tracks.

“How did you do that?” He asks scratching the back of his head.

“It’s one of my many superpowers. My strongest being my ability to put up with you,” she mumbles against the couch. Peter laughs at this and goes to the chair across from the couch and takes a seat. “So where have you been all night?” She asks, half opening her eyes. 

“Oh, you know. Just out and about practicing my photography skills. Granted, I could probably be a world class photographer and JJJ still wouldn’t pay me the price my pictures actually deserve.”

“I still don’t understand why you work for that man.”

“Because The Daily Globe sucks in comparison from what I’ve heard,” Peter lightly jokes. May just rolls her eyes. “Speaking of work, how was it for you today?” Peter asks.

“Do you not notice me lying defeated across the couch?”

“You could be lying there because it’s just a real comfy couch.”

“Haha, Mr. Comedian. If you must know, work has been interesting this past couple of weeks.”

“Really? What’s up?”

“Well,” Aunt May begins, actually sitting up slightly. “I’m not really permitted to tell you this yet, but then again, you’ll probably find out soon at the Bugle anyway. Felicia Hardy recently made a quiet donation to the hospital. It was some type of armor. I’ve never seen anything like it before and assumed it was meant for combat, but she donated it to the hospital to help with physical therapy. I’ve only briefly witnessed it in action, but it’s a sight to behold.”

“I can only imagine,” Peter says; Aunt May unaware of her nephew being all too familiar with the armor she speaks of. 

“Speaking of Ms. Hardy, if you ever meet her face to face, you owe her an apology for all the times you’ve laughed at the Oscorp events you’ve taken pictures of.”

“…how did you know about that?”

“Ms. Hardy told me everything, Pete.”

“She did what?”

“Oh, I was her nurse following that lunatic in the quilt outfit attacking Oscorp. Didn’t I tell you that?”

“No.”

“Hm. Well, I am now and you should honestly be ashamed of yourself. She’s actually a pretty sweet girl that’s under a lot of stress. I know Oscorp is far from your favorite place, but you shouldn’t immediately dismiss someone like that just because of the sins of the father.”

“I know, Aunt May. I know. You’re right,” Peter sighs.

“Of course I am,” May yawns making Peter laugh again.

“I have to admit, this is the best news I’ve heard in a while, so if I do get to speak to Ms. Hardy, I’ll be sure to offer her a sincere apology. That I promise.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” May yawns again.

“Ok, get up. Let’s get you into bed,” Peter says standing and helping his aunt up to her feet.

“Aw, but this couch is so comfy,” May pretends to complain.

“But not as comfy as a bed. You’ve got the day off tomorrow and you’re not going to spend it on a couch,” Peter says helping May into her room. A few minutes later, May rests comfortably under the covers of her bed with a small, and tired, but noticeable smile on her face. Before he leaves the room, Peter bends down and kisses May’s forehead.

“Sleep tight, Aunt May. I love you.”

“I know. I love you too, Peter,” May replies and then drifts off to sleep. 

Peter quietly exits her room and cracks the door behind him. He then retreats to his own bedroom and lies down on his bed thinking back to what May told him about Felicia. Part of him wants to feel just a tad suspicious about Felicia’s donation, but for now, he decides to kick almost all of his paranoia to the curb; ‘almost’ being the key word. 

If Felicia does have an ulterior motive, he’d handle it. Granted, it would be pretty damn hypocritical for him to think the worst of her now after having a brief friendly session of banter with her just two hours ago.

_Your voice. You sound like everyone else. I like it_ , he remembers her saying with a confident smile on her face.

It made him feel happy to know that there was someone in the city that didn’t put him on a pedestal as Spider-Man. Not that he viewed being seen as a symbol of hope to be a bad thing, but a lot of pressure to not let people down came with it. 

_You don’t give people hope. You take it away._

Harry’s words…those terrible words. They still cut deep whenever Peter thinks of them.

“It was my responsibility to help you,” he whispers then he turns his head towards his bedside table and glances at a picture of himself and Gwen placed on it.

“It was my responsibility to protect you,” he whispers again and runs his hands down his face.

_No. Don’t you put this on yourself,_ he remembers Felicia’s determined voice telling him.

“I wish it were that easy, Felicia,” Peter sighs, but nevertheless focuses on her words and, briefly, her smile to help ease his mind as he drifts off to sleep too.

* * *

 

**A few days later**

A member of the board tosses a copy of The Daily Bugle over to Felicia. The front page shows her amongst the smiling staff of the hospital (the byline reading ‘photos by Peter Parker). Felicia glances down at the paper and then at the man who tossed it to her; Adrian Toomes. A spry 70 year old man that had probably been on the board longer than anyone else.

“You seem upset, Mr. Toomes.” Felicia keeps her voice neutral and formal despite really wanting some sarcasm to drip from it.

“I’m not upset. Just displeased.”

“May I ask why?”

“I would assume it were obvious.”

“Not really. All I did was make a quiet donation to the hospital.”

“With one of the very weapons you said we were keeping under lock and key,” he replies as if Felicia were a disobedient child just caught in a lie. Felicia doesn’t take the bait and keeps her composure.

“If you read the article, you’d know that isn’t what I told the press. What I donated was just a reverse engineered version of the armor and only the lower half to be exact. And before you say anything else, the reason I called this meeting is because Mecha-Biocon, one of our major backers before the city blackout, contacted me this morning. They want to do business with us again after they saw today’s newspaper.”

“I would say congratulations are in order, but you still did all this behind our backs. Seems to me like you wanted to take all the credit for yourself.”

“It’s not about taking credit. It’s about keeping this company from going under.”

This incites a long and weak laugh from Toomes. Felicia moves her hands off the table and presses them against her legs while keeping an unaffected look on her face. “You speak of this company as if you’ve been here as long as any of us. You were Norman’s assistant for, what, two years, have been ‘in charge’ for only a few months, and you suddenly know what’s best for this company.”

“We aren’t facing any more legal repercussions because of Electro are we?” This time Felicia does let some smugness trace across her voice.

“Luck has been on your side, but when you mess up, and believe me, you will, I’ll be there to see you thrown out of this company with a smile on my face, Felicia.”

Felicia flashes that same smile she gave Spider-Man a few nights ago and presses a button on the intercom on the table. “This is Ms. Hardy. Have security come and escort Mr. Toomes out of the building.”

Toomes’ smile drops instantly. “You want to repeat that?”

It’s Felicia’s turn to laugh now; only a mild one. Any hints of smugness once again kept to a minimum. “You’ve had a long day Mr. Toomes. Why else would you threaten your boss. A little rest and you’ll be back to your old self.”

She doesn’t say or do anything else as the guards come and collect Toomes beyond keeping up her smile. Toomes only spares her a quick glance, eyes narrowed, before going quietly out of the board room. Once he is out of the room, Felicia gives the remaining board members her attention again. 

“I hope you all will want to follow my example from this point forward. Rather than trying to stir the pot and imply something that might not be true,” she says glancing at Fisk, “or engaging in any further cloak and dagger behavior, I stayed true to my word. That’s how you earn back people’s trust.” She watches the rest of the men in the room with her. They’re doing their best to keep their expressions blank except for Fisk who seems impressed and Smythe who seems intrigued.

“Well, if no one else has anything to say, consider this meeting adjourned.” With that order, the rest of the board members stand up and vacate the room immediately, with the exception of Smythe who waits until everyone is gone.

“Is there something wrong, Alistair?” Felicia asks.

“No. Not yet at least. I just think that maybe it would’ve been in your best interest to not challenge Toomes like that. He could be another Donald waiting to happen if you aren’t careful.”

“But that’s what I have you for. If you think Toomes is dangerous, I trust you’ll keep tabs on him and report back any suspicious behavior. I _can_ trust you, right?” 

“Yes, of course. I’ll have my seekers put their focus on Toomes for the time being and report back if they find anything noteworthy.” 

“Thank you, Alistair.”

“You’re welcome, Felicia.” He gives her another nod before leaving the board room. 

Once he’s gone, Felicia deeply exhales and stumbles back into her seat. It took everything she had to not snap at Toomes during their exchange. All he and the other board members need was one outburst to decide that Felicia was weak enough emotionally to dispose of just like they did to Harry regardless of the blackmail she had on them. 

Felicia gives an agitated sigh at the thought. There were times when she wondered why she was still doing this. Sure, she was angry at first and wanted to make sure Donald paid for his crimes, but she easily could’ve done nothing and let the company go under naturally. Then she remembered the smiling faces at the hospital and DeWolff’s gratitude.

Hope. It was the one thing the city needed most of all. So she would keep this up for as long as she could to help the city. It’s what Spider-Man would do after all.

* * *

 

Toomes enters his apartment bedroom a short while later, tossing his briefcase aside without even thinking where it might land. It hits a rather expensive vase he had on display, but Toomes’ fury at the indignity he just went through overrides his ability to care. He turns around and looks at a mirror in his room; gazing at the face of a man that people would say is clearly not getting any younger. Like a relic of the past that was meant to be tossed aside by the young. 

He looks down at a photo framed on his dresser and holds it up. It’s him in his youth standing beside a fighter jet. He hadn’t flown in sometime now and there were many of times when he missed it; the trill of being in the air and soaring past man’s limitations. The great sense of power it gave him. It wasn’t something he could do anymore though as his body couldn’t handle it. He grips the picture frame tightly and nearly considers tossing it aside when his cellphone starts to ring breaking through his growing anger. He takes a deep breath and calmly places the photo back on his dresser before answering his phone. 

“Hello.”

“Hello Mr. Toomes. My name is Gustav Fiers. I’m calling on behalf of my employer with a little ‘business’ proposal he has in mind.”

“And what would that be, Mr. Fiers?”

“I can’t say over the phone, but I will meet you at the following address that I will text to your phone. Let’s just say, I work for someone that shares your displeasure with Felicia Hardy.”

“How would you know about something like that, Mr. Fiers?” Toomes asks.

“I have friends within Oscorp. Friends that also share your displeasure with the young upstart. If you wish to hear what I have to offer, again, please come to the following address. I look forward to meeting with you.” 

Fiers ends the call before Toomes can ask anything else. Less than twenty-seconds later, Toomes receives a text message with the address and time for the meeting. It was located in the back end of town and felt more than a little suspicious to Toomes. But then his thoughts circled back to Felicia and how she tried to play the composed leader. He saw right through he act. How she was fighting not to crack. But she _would_ crack, just like his vase. She’d crack into tiny pieces that he would scoop up and dump in the trash like the garbage she was.

* * *

 

**Later that night**

“Wait for me here. This hopefully won’t take long,” he tells his driver as they pull up to the meeting place at midnight; something about the address seems familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. 

He exits the car and stares at a decrepit building for the meeting. He gives a small gulp and makes his way for the building’s entrance at a swift pace afraid that he might turn around and leave if he hesitates. But much to his surprise, upon entering the building, it had a rather sophisticated and hi-tech look; almost like something out of Oscorp in fact.

“Hello Mr. Toomes. Do you like what we’ve done with the place?” Fiers asks stepping out from around the corner surprising Toomes and making his heart skip a few beats. “It used to belong to Quest Labs before Oscorp ran them out of business. But good property should never go to waste, so we had the interior fixed up for our ‘cloak and dagger’ activities, shall we say.”

“I thought the address looked familiar,” Toomes realizes then looks over at Fiers. Despite his deep and somewhat threatening voice, Fiers had the appearances of an ordinary man; no older than 64 or 65.

“Glad you showed up, Mr. Toomes. My employer felt this job offer wouldn’t work without you attached.”

“What exactly is this job offer of your employer’s?” Toomes asks.

“You want Felicia Hardy out of Oscorp don’t you?”

“Yes, but it’s not that simple due to her holding some rather incriminating blackmail on most of the board.”

“Oh, I’m aware of that, but what my boss has in mind will get rid of her naturally, blackmail be damned.” 

Fiers holds up a remote and presses a button on it making a wall to the right of Toomes start to rise up. Toomes turns towards it and his eyes widen in surprise.

“Is…is that?”

“One of Oscorp’s weapons? Yes. Before you ask, no this isn’t stolen. It along with a few other weapons are all recreations that one of my associates has been, rather painstakingly, recreating over the past few months from my recollection of the blueprints kept at Oscorp before Ms. Hardy had all access to Special Projects reset and restricted to herself and Alistair Smythe. This suit in particular we thought you’d be interested in using for a little job we have in mind. It can defy gravity, magnify the wearer’s strength and stamina by 50 times, its wings and talons can cut through practically anything, and of course it comes with a mask to conceal one’s identity while providing oxygen for higher altitudes.”

“You had me at defying gravity,” Toomes says; his airman heart fluttering at the suit and its design. “It’s like this was made for me.”

“It seems that way, but I assure you, it’s a legit coincidence,” Fiers laughs.

“Well, I’ve learned to never blindly trust a silver platter, so what would I be doing for you?” Toomes asks, but doesn’t take his eyes off the suit.

“There’s a breakout being planned and I’m recruiting a set amount of people to make it happen.”

“Who are we breaking out?”

“Harry Osborn.”

Toomes feels his enthusiasm start to drop. “He’s your employer?” He guesses.

“One of them, but we aren’t freeing him to take back Oscorp.”

“Why are you then?” 

“It isn’t your concern. What you should concern yourself with is that should the viewers of what we plan to be a rather public spectacle be aware that these weapons all belonged to Oscorp, well, I can imagine Felicia will have a difficult time talking her way out of the ensuing scandal. You can keep the suit as a bonus, if you succeed, by the way. What do you say?” 

Toomes walk closer to the glass separating him from the suit; placing his hand against the glass. Grinning uncontrollably at the thought of being back in the air again. At the thought of showing people that age is just a number. Even if they don’t know it’s him, he gets a rush from just knowing that he’ll be able to put Felicia in her place; maybe even arrange an accident from a few thousand feet in the air.

“Ok, I’m in,” he answers.

“Glad to hear it. We’ll start training you with the suit in the morning. Make sure you keep this quiet, by the way. Don’t want that Wall Crawling Weasel dropping in on us.”

“Of course, you can count on me, Mr. Fiers,” Toomes says reaching forward and shaking Fiers’ hand before leaving. Once Fiers listens to his car drive off, he pulls out his cellphone and dials a number.

“Yes,” the other voice on the line says.

“He’s in, Mr. Fisk,” Fiers reports as he leaves the main room and enters another with a few security monitors set up.

“Excellent. Does he suspect that I may be involved?”

“He remains blissfully unaware.”

“Good. Ensure he stays that way.”

“Will do, though I still feel wary of taking Toomes on. I know we need a patsy, but if he were to harm Felicia in any way, I can’t begin to imagine how Harry would react.”

“I too would prefer no harm to come to Felicia, but I also wouldn’t mind the chaotic anger Harry would generate if something did,” Fisk says. Fiers still had his reservations, but since he wasn’t being paid to protest, he kept his mouth shut. “Now then, how are the rest of our recruits coming?”

Fiers looks over at one of the security monitors. One of them shows a man dressed in silver armor with his helmet covering his face with large blue eyes; claws at the end of his armor’s hands and feet. The man bends down, lifts up a large block of solid steel over his head, and tosses it right through the walls of the room he’s practicing in. Another monitor shows someone else dressed in a green suit of armor with the most distinguishing feature being a long tail attached to it. His tail starts to glow vibrantly and it fires off a large laser blast at his own steel block blasting a large chunk of it away.

“They’re doing quite well, Mr. Fisk,” Fiers says with a smile. “Like Hornets in a nest.”

**To Be Continued…**


	9. Hope for the Best

Felicia takes a few deep breathes as she sits down and fastens her seat belt.

"Are you alright back there?" The pilot of the Oscorp Helicopter asks from the front seat.

"Yeah. J-just never been much of a f-flyer," Felicia stammers.

"Well, don't worry. Flying is the safest way to travel after all," he assures her.

_If by safe, you mean something goes wrong and we plummet to our deaths, then sure, it's definitely the safest,_ Felicia thinks as the pilot fires up the chopper.

It takes off from the Oscorp roof and heads off for its destination; Mecha-Biocon, located on a small island a few miles away from Oscorp. The current CEO of the company, Ms. Alicia Silver, had invited Felicia over to take a tour of the facility following her decision to do business with Oscorp again. Felicia happily accepted as it would give her an excuse to check the place out and see if anything about it was suspicious.

_I'll be so glad when this paranoia subsides. It's getting really annoying,_ Felicia thinks.

The ride over to Mecha-Biocon is over almost as quickly as it started and Felicia thanks Heaven for that. As the Helicopter bends to descend, Felicia takes notice of Mecha-Biocon's slogan written on the front of the building.

**_We Build the Future_ **

_I hope it's a future worth living in,_ Felicia continues to think as the Helicopter touches down. An African America woman appearing in her mid or so 30s exits the building to come meet Felicia.

"Ms. Hardy, Dr. Andrews," the woman introduces herself once Felicia exists the helicopter. "It is a pleasure to meet you," she continues and shakes Felicia's hand.

"Thanks. It is nice to meet you too," Felicia replies and takes note of Dr. Andrews' kind face.

_That's one point in Mecha-Biocon's favor,_  Felicia thinks to herself and follows Dr. Andrews into the building.

Its interior reminds her slightly of Oscorp's only with a slightly darker color palette and more armed security stationed in the main lobby.

"Ms. Hardy, let me begin by apologizing to you on Ms. Silver's behalf," Dr. Andrews says as they stop in front of a sealed metal door.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Felicia asks as Dr. Andrews holds up her security badge to the guard who takes and scans it before nodding to the pair and opening the door in front of them.

"She intended to meet you personally, but she was called away on business early this morning," she explains as they continue onward. "She still wanted to make sure you got the tour, however, so she tasked me with being your guide."

"You can tell Ms. Silver that I accept her apology the next time you see her," Felicia says following Dr. Andrews up a set of stairs and towards another set of sealed doors marked  **'Enhancements'**.

"Sorry about the heavy security measures," Dr. Andrews apologizes again while scanning her badge in front of the door and then punching in a number on the keypad. "Ms. Silver values the organization's privacy."

"I kind of figured with this place being located on an island," Felicia jokes as the door opens leading to a room with about a dozen or so people doing various exercises. Dr. Andrews leads Felicia over towards a man swiftly running on a treadmill with no signs of stopping.

"I know this room doesn't seem like much now," Dr. Andrews starts and then presses a button on a pad in front of her. A monitor descends from the ceiling and stops in front of the runner and switches on showing his X-Ray. Felicia glances down at his legs and her eyes widen at how the inside of legs from the knees down to his feet aren't bone.

"Is that metal?" Felicia asks.

"Yes. Complete bone replacement. This man met with an unfortunate accident that nearly destroyed the bone in both his legs and would've required amputation, but my work fixed him up as good as new."

"Not just good as new, doc," the man says. "I'd say you made me better than I was before. I feel like the Six Million Dollar Man or however much he'd be worth these days," he compliments, but Dr. Andrews looks a tad uneasy at his words.

"Are you alright?" Felicia asks as she and Dr. Andrews walk around the room glancing at some of the other people exercising.

"It's just that, I've never felt 100% comfortable calling the replacement work I've done 'enhancements' as this training room is labeled. I'd like to see my work as repairs. A way for the broken to resume their normal lives. Enhancements makes me think of weapons. I know, it's a tad hypocritical for someone not comfortable with weapons to work at a facility that specializes in military contracts, isn't it?"

"I don't think so. Sometimes you've gotta work with the hand you've been dealt to get ahead in life," Felicia replies.

"I kept telling myself something like that back when I made what Ms. Silver considers one of my finest creations for the company. Would you like to see it?"

"This is a tour, so please, lead on."

"Of course. Follow me." Dr. Andrews leads Felicia out of the Enhancement room and down a short corridor. "You'll probably find me to be an even  _bigger_  hypocrite for what I'm about to show you, but it's like you said, sometimes you have to work with the hand you've been dealt," she continues as they stop before another door that Dr. Andrews unlocks with her badge and a security code granting them access to a small lab.

"Welcome to my office. Ms. Silver thought my talents were being wasted just fixing people and offered this to me with as many resources as I wanted if I made what she asked; a new type of armor for military use."

Dr. Andrews presses her hand against one of the walls. It scans her palm and then the wall begins to ascend revealing the armor. Felicia's eyes widen at the site of it and Dr. Andrews smiles at her bewildered expression.

"Not what you were expecting was it?" Dr. Andrews asks.

"You modeled your armor after…is that a scorpion?"

"Yes. This will sound silly, but when designing the armor, I looked to Spider-Man for inspiration and then imagined something more than a spider. Anything a spider can do, this suit can magnify that times ten in addition to being made from a not so easily damaged form of titanium and a couple of other surprises."

Felicia watches Dr. Andrews carefully and takes note of how there does seem to be a small, but noticeable look of admiration in the other woman's eyes at her creation.

"Has it been used out in the field?" Felicia asks.

"No, we're still in the testing stages, but the results have been quite impressive. I suppose if there's a silver lining to be found, it's that in the right hands, this armor could save who knows how many members of our armed forces."

"If the person wearing it is anything like Spider-Man, I bet the number would be too high to count," Felicia says.

"No arguments there," Dr. Andrews replies.

* * *

"So what happened next?" Deborah asks from outside Felicia's bedroom.

"Not much," Felicia calls back; applying some finishing touches to her makeup. "That was kind of the peak of my visit. Everything else was your standard bits of 'cutting edge' technology, which were impressive to look at, but lacked the imagination of the Scorpion armor."

"What is it with this city's obsession with animal motifs? Spider-Man, the Lizard, The Rhino, and now a Scorpion? What's next? A human Octopus?" Deborah asks.

"Don't joke around. That very well could happen," Felicia says and then opens her bedroom door. "Can you zip me up?" She asks as she turns around.

"Sure," Deborah replies.

"I still can't believe I let you talk me into this," Felicia complains as Deborah begins zipping up her dress.

"How could you NOT attend? The party is being thrown because of you," Deborah reminds her and finishes zipping the dress.

"And that's why I'm not comfortable going. All I did was make some good decisions that kept the company from going under. It didn't warrant Fisk deciding to throw this little get together. I won't even know any of the people attending."

"Then this will be a good opportunity for you to mix, mingle, and meet some new people. Now then, give me a twirl," Deborah requests.

Felicia rolls her eyes, but complies and Deborah whistles. "Trust me when I saw you'll be turning plenty of heads at the party. See, you're doing it already," Deborah says pointing down at her cat circling around Felicia's legs and purring.

"Happy to see you too, Chris," Felicia says bending down and stroking the cat. Chris gives a happy sounding meow in response.

"The clock is ticking Cinderella. Better get moving," Deborah nudges her.

"Ok, I'm going, I'm going," Felicia says heading out the door.

"Hey wait," Deborah calls to her then goes over to the couch and picks up a mask. "Don't forget this." She tosses the mask to Felicia and she catches it.

"Thanks Deborah," Felicia thanks and then she is off.

* * *

**A short drive later**

_Ok, I go inside, awkwardly mingle for a couple of hours with people I don't know and then silently make my get away. Awesome,_ Felicia thinks as she rides the elevator up to the 30th floor of the building Fisk is throwing his masquerade party.

She still feels kind of foolish doing this, but realizes that Deborah is right about her trying to make more friends in the company. The more people on her side, the less people she has to feel paranoid about. The doors open and Felicia feels her breath catch in her throat at the sight of all the people present.

_Calm down, Felicia. You were brave enough to take this company from Donald. Hanging around complete strangers should be a piece of cake._

She exits the elevator and gives her name to a man holding a list.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Ms. Felicia Hardy!" He announces and the crowd gives a brief, but enthusiastic applause.

_Alright, let's do this._  Felicia pulls her mask over her face and enters the party. Within seconds, someone makes their way over to Felicia and she's relieved that it's someone she knows.

"Good evening, Mr. Fisk," she greets.

"Now, now, Felicia. We aren't in Oscorp. Wilson is just fine," he laughs. "By the way, this is my wife, Vanessa," he says gesturing to the woman standing beside him.

"Pleasure to meet you," Felicia says shaking Vanessa's hand.

"Likewise," Vanessa replies. "Wilson speaks of how wonderful you are quite often to the point that I wondered if I should be jealous," Vanessa comments.

"Um," Felicia starts.

"She exaggerates," Fisk cuts her off. "I've only spoken of how much I admire you for holding Oscorp together at your age," he continues as the band starts to play another song. Fisk looks back to Vanessa. "I hope you won't mind if I ask Ms. Hardy for a dance, my love."

"Of course not, Wilson," Vanessa replies and kisses his cheek and then he holds his hand out to Felicia.

_Well,_   _Deborah told me to make new friends,_  Felicia thinks then takes Fisk's hand and follows him onto the dance floor.

"I must say, I was beginning to think you might not come," Fisk comments as they begin to dance.

"I figured I'd arrive fashionably late, Mr. Fisk, um, I mean, Wilson," Felicia jokes. "Truth be told, I was a little on the fence about coming."

"Was there something wrong?"

"It's just that, well, I felt a tad uncomfortable. I appreciate you putting this little event together in light of Oscorp's success with Meacha-Biocon, but it wasn't necessary. I was just doing what any sane CEO would do."

"Correction. You were doing what any  _good_ CEO would, which is all the more reason to celebrate, especially to dispel the myth that only bad work is noticed. I look forward to seeing where you take Oscorp in the future."

"Thank you, Wilson, but for now, I'm just living my life one day at a time."

"A wise way to live one's life indeed, Felicia. May I add, you look quite lovely this evening."

"Um, thank you. You don't look too bad yourself."

"Wilson Fisk!" Felicia hears someone call out. Felicia looks over her shoulder and sees a woman wearing a dark red dress and silver mask approaching her and Fisk.

"Someone else has decided to arrive fashionably late it seems," Fisk observes as he and Felicia stop dancing. "Felicia, this is Ms…"

"Keating. Jessica Keating. A business associate of Wilson's," the woman answers for him and holds her hand out to Felicia.

"Felicia Hardy," she replies, shaking Jessica's hand and beginning to lift up her mask.

"No, don't," Jessica says stopping Felicia. "Keep the mystery. This is a masquerade party after all," she chuckles and Felicia nods. Jessica then turns to Fisk. "I apologize for my lateness. I just had some last minute errands that needed attending to."

"There is no need to apologize. Felicia, if you'll excuse us, there are a few things I need to discuss with Jessica."

"Alright and thank you for the dance, Wilson," Felicia says giving a small curtsey.

Fisk takes Felicia hand and kisses it before walking off towards the balcony with Jessica following him behind. Felicia walks over to the bar and then glances back at the pair as they close the doors leading to the balcony behind hem.

_Wonder what they are talking about…ugh. Felicia, enough with this rampant paranoia,_ she mentally berates herself.

"Felicia?"

"Hm," Felicia thinks and turns to see Vanessa's friendly face. "Oh, hello, Mrs. Fisk."

"Please, call me Vanessa. And you seem tense. Is everything alright?"

"Yes…no. I don't know," Felicia sighs. "Ever since I took over as Oscorp's CEO, I've been constantly looking over my shoulder like at any minute, someone at the company could pull a fast one and try to remove me from my position."

"It is a natural feeling for people with power to fear others taking it. Wilson does three security checks a night before going to bed."

"He does he live with the paranoia?"

"Truth be told, he doesn't. He once explained to me that one of the best ways to live one's life is to always assume someone has an ulterior motive when you first meet them, so you can't be disappointed if they do, and if they don't, then just be thankful. Wilson even thought  _I_  might be trouble when we first met. Sometimes…sometimes I wonder if he's still waiting for the ulterior motive to reveal itself. I shouldn't be surprised given his line of work outside of Oscorp, but it does hurt to think about that," she sighs.

_What would she have to worry about? Fisk is just a philanthropist. Isn't he?_

Felicia considers asking Vanessa this question, but then she looks at Vanessa's face and sees her own reflected in it. She becomes moved with empathy and gives Vanessa a smile.

"Then don't give him a reason to be disappointed," Felicia says and Vanessa smiles back.

"I won't. I definitely won't," she declares. "Now then, this is a party. We should be drinking and enjoying ourselves. What would you like?"

"I actually don't drink that often, so water will do for now," Felicia says earning her a long laugh from Vanessa, who nevertheless motions for the bartender to pour the two of them some glasses of water.

* * *

**A short while earlier**

_It feels weird wearing a mask other than my Spider-Man one,_ Peter thinks riding the elevator up to the party.

When he steps off the elevator and sees everyone else wearing masks, he feels even weirder. It makes him wonder if this is how other people feel when they see him with his Spidey mask on; knowing there's a face behind it, but not being able to get a clear look.

_Not that it would matter if I could see anyone's face since they're all complete…strangers…_  Peter's train of thought derails as his Spider Sense starts to buzz. He glances around the room trying to find the source, but nothing appears out of the ordinary.

"Mr. Parker of The Daily Bugle I presume," someone says and Peter turns back around to find himself standing in Wilson Fisk's imposing presence.

"Yes sir," Peter replies. "What gave me away?"

"Ahem," Fisk coughs and points down at Peter's press badge.

"Oh right. Um, nice to meet your sir," Peter says holding out his hand.

As Fisk stretches out his hand to shake Peter's, his Spider Sense goes from a mild buzz to a loud blare and Peter nearly pulls his hand away from the sudden stab of pain he feels in his head, but keeps it together and shakes the other man's hand.

"I trust you will do an excellent job photographing tonight's events, Mr. Parker. Mr. Jameson said you are one of his best photographers."

"He did-I mean, of course he did. I am. You just point and shoot. No big deal," Peter replies and holds up his camera to take a picture of Fisk, which he allows. "You won't even know I'm here, unless you ask for me personally that is," Peter jokes, but Fisk remains stoic. "I'll…get right on it then."

Peter spends the next forty or so minutes wandering around the room taking pictures of anyone that asks while also wondering what about Fisk could be triggering his Spider Sense so badly. He's just one of New York's leading philanthropists as far as Peter is aware.

_Then again, everyone has their secrets. No one at this party would ever consider that the photographer is secretly Spider-Man,_ Peter thinks as he takes some more photos of a few dancing couples at a distance including Fisk and his wife.

Everything is proceeding as normal until he hears the doorman announce Felicia's arrival. Peter points his camera at the door to get a picture of her arrival and his mouth lightly drops at the sight of Felicia. Glamorous didn't begin to describe how she looked in the dress she was wearing. He was so transfixed that he almost forget to snap a picture of her arrival and quickly did so.

_You should stop gawking and instead apologize to her for the times you laughed at the Oscorp Charity events like Aunt May told you to,_  he thinks and starts to make his way towards Felicia when Fisk beats him to it. Peter walks backwards and decides to wait until they are finished; taking some photos as well as Felicia and Fisk share a dance.

_For a guy that towers over so many people, he's not a bad dancer,_  Peter jokes in his thoughts when his Spider Sense goes off again.

"Wilson Fisk!" He hears someone call out and spots a woman in a red dress and silver mask approaching Felicia and Fisk. Peter zooms his camera in on the mysterious woman, but is unable to spot any distinguishing facial features because of her mask.

_First Fisk, now her. What's going on?_

Fisk and the mystery woman speak to each other for a moment and then Peter watches them walking off towards the balcony. He then glances to the room adjacent to the one everyone else is currently in and notices it is dark and deserted.

_I'm sure Jameson won't mind if I take a quick break_ , Peter thinks and makes a swift, but inconspicuous break for the deserted room; pulling his web shooters out of his back pockets and strapping them on.

He stashes his camera under a table and then walks out onto the balcony and peeks around the wall spotting Fisk and the woman walking to the far right edge of their balcony with their backs turned to him. Peter takes off his masquerade mask and, not feeling his Spider Sense, pulls out his Spider-Man mask from his jacket pocket and puts it on before climbing over the edge of the balcony and then crawling beneath it.

He quickly takes off his suit and shoes, almost dropping them once or twice, spins them into a web bag that he webs up against a wall, and crawls underneath the balcony over to where Fisk and the woman are, hoping he hasn't missed out eavesdropping on something important.

"Yes, I appreciate the invite. I just don't see why we had to meet at a public place to further discuss business," he hears the woman say.

"I believe the words 'self preservation' sums it up best," Fisk replies.

"After everything we've been through, you'd think I'd pull a fast one on you, especially with all the people present inside?"

"To put it simply, yes."

A smile breaks out across the woman's face. "You know me so well," she chuckles.

"Yes, which is why I've made further arrangements to ensure my safety."

"I'll keep that in mind, but believe me when I say you have nothing to worry about."

"Forgive me if I maintain a healthy paranoia, Jessica is it, this time."

She shrugs her shoulders. "I like the name Jessica, and Keating was the only decent thing my good for nothing, except killing, ex-husband ever gave me. Now, let's get down to business. When will the extraction need to take place?"

"Two months time. You are free to use any methods necessary when securing the target as long as they don't put its life in danger," Fisk says as he starts pacing along the balcony.

"What should I do with the target once it is secured?" She asks following him.

"My associate will send you a location to bring the target on the day of the extraction. Above all else, the public  _must_  see you removing the target from the facility. Is that clear?"

"Crystal. Is there anything else about the mission that I should be aware of?"

"Just that a few of my enforcers shall be joining you for the mission as well."

"With all due respect, my wild pack and I are more than capable of carrying this mission out ourselves."

"I know, but a chaotic element is required for the plan as well. You'll learn more on the day of the mission."

"Sounds exciting, I can't wait," Jessica says with a grin; her voice briefly slipping into her natural accent.

"Speaking of fun, I believe we should get back to the party, before people start to wonder what has become of us."

"We've only been gone for a few minutes, Wilson," Jessica points out, but he's already begun to make his way back to the party. She shrugs her shoulders again and goes after them; Spider-Man slowly peeking over the edge of the balcony as they leave. Once they leave, the balcony doors closing behind them, Peter pulls himself over the edge and onto the balcony.

* * *

"No. You actually called security on Toomes?" Vanessa laughs.

"Mhm. I knew an example needed to be made and he handed me an opportunity to make one on a silver platter."

"Wow. He must've been really upset."

"He probably was, but I stopped caring after security took him away," Felicia partially fibs earning her a look of admiration from Vanessa.

She finishes off her water and then orders some wine for herself while Felicia glances over at the balcony doors opening back up revealing Fisk and Jessica. She starts to look away when she spots something behind them at the edge of the balcony.

_Am I seeing…how can I see…?_ She thinks. Eyes fixated on the spot even as the doors shut.

"Vanessa, would you excuse me. I need to get some air."

"Of course. Don't stay gone too long." Felicia nods to Vanessa and makes her way over to the balcony.

* * *

Spider-Man leans against the edge of the balcony trying to process everything.

_Ok, recap. This Jessica woman, which isn't her real name, is some sort of criminal. Fisk is also a criminal, or at least involved in some very shady stuff. And I'm willing to bet money that the target they were speaking of is Harry._   _That leaves only one question. If they do mean Harry, did he hire them, or are they freeing him for their own benefit? Terrific. I figured I could use a little more paranoia in my diet,_ Spidey thinks, and then a hand suddenly rests on his shoulder.

"Hey Spider, care to dance?"

_Felicia! How did she sneak up on me without triggering my Spider Sense?_  Spidey thinks and turns around to face her. His eyes widen behind his mask at the sight of Felicia from up close. Her dress hugs her perfectly and her mask somehow augments her small, but bright smile. Peter feels himself swallow and tries to collect himself.

"Ms. Hardy. Ahem. Um, this isn't what it looks like."

"Oh really. So you aren't following me?" Felicia asks, arms folded and smile widening.

"No, no, no, no, absolutely not. It's just…my web shooters were running empty so I needed to land someplace to change cartridges is all," he quickly lies.

Felicia was laughing on the inside at Spider-Man's nervousness, but kept up an expression that said, 'you'll have to do better than that'.

"You want to know what I think?" Felicia asks and then, feeling bold, takes a step forward leaving only a little bit of space between herself and Spider-Man; placing her hand against his chest. "I think you just wanted to see me again," she whispers, running her hand up his chest to his shoulder and then laughs when she spots Spider-Man swallow.

"Relax, Spider. I believe you.  _This_  time," she laughs; unaware of the goosebumps on Spidey's arms or the beads of sweat on his forehead.

"So how's the life of a superhero been going for you?" She asks changing the subject. At this question, all the feelings concerning Fisk and Harry, that Felicia briefly distracted him from, hit him all at once again and he sits down on the balcony floor. "Hey, are you alright?" Felicia asks kneeling beside him.

"I wish. You know how they say you should hope for the best, but prepare for the worst?"

"I'm familiar with the phrase."

"I  _hate_ that phrase because it perfectly sums up my life. When patrolling the city, I always have to assume the worst of it, so I can be ready at a moment's notice to swing into action when something goes wrong. And something always goes wrong…I should go before that happens." Spidey begins to stand, but Felicia stands up quicker and grabs him by the shoulders.

"Wait! You're no good to anyone while under stress. Try to relax. Remember when we last spoke? I said you sounded like everyone else. As in a person. And one person can't put everything on themselves."

"The city needs me," Spidey says and Felicia takes his hands.

"And you need you. I want you to close your eyes. Can you do that for me?" She asks. Spidey takes a moment, but then slowly nods his head and closes his eyes. "Are your eyes closed?"

"Promise."

"Good. Now take a deep breath." He obeys. "Now exhale." He complies. "Now count backwards from ten," she tells him; holding his hands a bit more firmly as he does.

He nods again and counts backwards in his head; feeling Felicia let go of one of his hands as he makes it down to zero. He opens his eyes and they find themselves staring at Felicia's unmasked face.

"See. I'm just a regular person behind the mask. Like you. And I can tell you're smiling behind it…you are, right?" She laughs.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, Ms. Hardy. This meant a lot."

"Hey," she says and then slowly reaches forward and lightly strokes the side of Spidey's face. "You can call me Felicia."

He feels a brief spark of electricity from her touch unlike how his Spider Sense makes him feel. It's nice.

"Well Felicia. Was that a legit offer for a dance earlier?"

"You dance?"

"Gotta do something to practice the fancy footwork I display during my heroics," he replies before taking a bow. Felicia grins wider than usual before slipping her mask back on and curtseying.

_Pinch me, I must be dreaming,_ she thinks as Spidey takes her hand and twirls her around before pulling her close; their chests almost touching as they began to dance. Felicia grateful that the door is shut and the blinds all drawn, so no one can see them.

"Hope you don't mind me saying, but you look lovely tonight," Spidey compliments her.

"You're the second person to say that to me, but coming from you, it actually sounds sincere."

"What kind of superhero would I be if I wasn't sincere?" He quips. "Speaking of sincerity, I meant what I said about what you said to me meaning a lot. It's been a long time since I've talked to someone about, well, any of this."

"I'm happy I could help," she says back and then rests her head against Spidey's shoulder.

The action surprises them both, but neither says anything about it. Felicia naturally feels butterflies in her stomach, while Spidey is not sure what to think. The mere idea of getting close to someone again after what happened to Gwen never crossed his mind. Yet here he was sharing a quiet and rather intimate moment with someone he only shared a few short, but meaningful conversations with. He knows he should feel guilty, but whatever he feels instead, he likes it.

"By the way," Felicia begins, lifting her head off Spidey's shoulder. "You don't look so bad yourself," she compliments. "For a guy that's always wearing a mask," she quickly jokes.

"Looks who's talking," he says pointing at her own mask.

"I know, I know-whoa!" Felicia exclaims as Spidey suddenly dips her. "Wow," she breathes out looking up at him. Heart beating rapidly and her hand clutching his bicep. "You're a really good dancer. I'm surprised."

"A lot of things about me would surprise this city," he says pulling her back up.

"I like surprises," Felicia reveals.

"Really? Well then," Spidey says and then spins Felicia away from him, shoots a web-line at her hip, and then pulls her right back into his arms; her hands coming into contact with and then resting on his chest.

They both laugh at this maneuver until they realize they're little more than an inch apart. Felicia is the one that gulps this time.

_Oh my God,_ she thinks. Hands just inches beneath his mask; tracing the edges of it with her thumbs.

_It wouldn't take any effort. I could lift it up…just a little bit._ Her hands move up, inch by inch. Shaking as they do.

_If he stops me…I'll back off_ , she thinks while another distant voice in the back of her head trying to tell his this is a bad idea.

_What are you doing, Parker? Her hands. They're moving towards your mask. You know what she's trying to do,_  he thinks, but the combination of their closeness and his own rapidly beating heart starts to cloud his thoughts. His hands, already around her waist, pull Felicia even closer to him. There's nothing between them now. Nothing to stop them.

_I can't believe I'm doing this,_ Felicia thinks as Spidey's lips are revealed from under his mask.

_Th-there's nothing wrong with this. Is there?_ Spidey asks himself as he feels his lips become exposed to the soft night air.

Felicia stares at him for another moment as if trying to give him an out, but when he continues to hold her, Felicia stands up on her tip toes as Spidey starts to lean down. And then it all comes back to him. The move he used on Felicia. How close they were. Gwen. What would she think right now? In an instant, the spell is broken.

"Felicia, wait," he almost whispers with only a couple of inches of space between their lips; the sweet scent of her perfume wafting past his nose and making him want to close the gap. "I-I can't. I'm sorry, I can't."

Felicia knows she's definitely not dreaming now, because this wouldn't be happening if she was. "I'm sorry too," she finds herself apologizing though not sure about what. Nevertheless, she pulls his mask back down over his lips and he lets her go. They take a few steps back from one another feeling beyond awkward about what just happened.

"I wish I could explain," he apologizes, rubbing his hand against the back of his head.

"I wish you could as well, but I won't ask you to." As she says this, Spider-Man feels his Spider Sense go off and spots a police chopper fly past the building. He watches where it is flying towards and then looks back at Felicia.

She gives him a sad smile and then sighs, "Go get'em, Spider." He nods and then she once again watches him swinging away from her. "Looks like the clock has struck midnight, Cinderella," she whispers to herself and goes back to rejoin the party.

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: Romantic scenes have never quite been my strongest suit, so I hope you liked this little moment between Spidey and Felicia (along with the rest of the chapter. Lol).**


	10. Friends Know Best

After Spider-Man left, Felicia remained on the balcony for a few more minutes gazing off in the direction she saw him swing off in. Still attempting to process what she came within inches of doing while her heart hammered in her chest.

_I can't believe I almost kissed him_ , she thinks.

* * *

Spidey's heart was already beating a mile a minute and the web swinging towards the city's latest crime in progress wasn't helping. His small, but romantic moment with Felicia still replaying in his head.

_I can't believe I almost kissed her_ , he thinks.

* * *

Once Felicia was sure her racing heart had calmed, she rejoined the party, but tried to keep to herself for the rest of her time there. Vanessa did track her down shortly after she came back inside, however, but much to Felicia's gratitude did most of the talking; mostly about how she did not like how clingy Jessica seemed towards her husband. Felicia nodded and added a few thoughts of her own every now and then when she heard Fisk call over to her.

* * *

Like a streak of light, Spider-Man arrived at the scene of the bank robbery just in time and dispensed with the crooks in no time flat. After dealing with them, he swung back to the balcony where he left his clothes, collected them, and then swung back down to the city streets below so he could change in an alleyway. Once back in his suit, he reentered the building and took the elevator back up to the party. The man with the guest list expressing confusion when he spotted Peter reentering the party through the elevator as he didn't recall seeing him leave.

Peter laughed it off as being invisible like photographers should be and swiftly walked back into the room where he stashed his camera and crept back into the party like he had nothing to hide; resuming his job with mild indifference for the next 30 minutes while Felicia continued to occupy his thoughts.

"Mr. Parker," he hears Fisk from behind making him jump.

"Yes sir," Peter says turning around.

"There is one picture in particular I require you to take this evening. One moment please. Miss Hardy!" He calls out.

* * *

"Yes Wilson," Felicia says approaching him and someone else. He looks familiar, but she can't place the face because of his mask.

"I've just realized that we have yet to have a picture taken together this evening. With you being the guest of honor and me throwing this party, it's only natural that we should." Felicia smiles and stands beside him. He puts his hand around her shoulder, but thinking back to Vanessa, Felicia keeps her hands by her sides. "When you are ready, Mr. Parker."

_Parker! I knew there was something familiar about this guy. Hm, he cleans up nicely. Sort of. He looks like he sprinted here or something,_ Felicia thinks while smiling as Peter takes the photo of herself and Wilson.

"It's perfect," Peter compliments, trying to make his voice not sound too similar to how he spoke to Felicia as Spider-Man. "The two of you will look great in tomorrow's edition of the Bugle."

"Flattery will get you nowhere Mr. Parker, but keep trying," Fisk laughs before returning to his guests.

Peter and Felicia watch him leave and then turn back to each other. An awkward silence ensuing between the two of them. Peter wanted to take this moment to apologize to Felicia as himself for how he had been a jerk and assumed she wasn't sincere about her desire to change Oscorp, but found himself too nervous to speak in fear that she might recognize his voice.

Felicia wanted to apologize for assuming he was just a jerk for not taking her attempts to change Oscorp seriously, but wasn't sure how to start a conversation like that. After a few more awkward seconds of silence passed, they broke it with one sentence each.

"Mr. Parker."

"Ms. Hardy."

That's all that was said between them and then they turned and went about their business. Felicia left maybe an hour later, and Peter stayed until the party ended another two hours later. Gwen and Felicia both bouncing around in his mind as he headed for the bus stop. He considered more web slinging to distract him from those thoughts, but knew distractions wouldn't help. He needed to talk to someone about it and there was only one person he could think of. So he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he says to himself and dials the number. "Hey, it's Peter," he says to the person on the other end. "Sorry to call so late, but I was wondering if you wanted to meet up tomorrow."

* * *

_I'm not even gonna bother with a shower. I'm just gonna go inside, change out of this dress and take a much needed nap. Then again, if I sleep now, I'll probably just dream about Spider-Man…not that there's anything wrong with that,_ Felicia thinks entering her apartment.

It's pitch dark and as Felicia reaches for a light switch, she spots something on her couch, however, her eyes haven't even had a chance to adjust to the dark. But she can see whatever it is as plain as day. Felicia flips on the lights, and the sudden illumination blinds her for a split second before things return to focus and reveal it's just Deborah asleep on her couch. Felicia grabs a throw pillow and tosses it at Deborah.

"Mmm, what the, Felicia?" Deborah yawns as she stirs awake.

"Hi sleepy head. You mind telling me what you were doing sleeping in the dark?"

"Saving on your electric bill?" Deborah jokes; at least Felicia thinks it's a joke.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," she chastises and tosses another throw pillow at her.

"Cut it out! I surrender!" Deborah exclaims before suddenly throwing one back at Felicia. She nimbly catches it with only one hand in one solid motion. "Wow. That was cool. So how was the party? Did you turn heads like I said you would?"

"I might have," Felicia teases, joining Deborah on the couch.

"Don't just sit there, spill it!" Deborah practically demands. Felicia ponders for a moment on whether or not to give Deborah the full details. But before she has a chance to answer, a knowing look forms on Deborah's face. "Did a certain Wall Crawling Wonder make an appearance?"

"What? N-no. What makes you say that?" The caught off guard Felicia asks.

"You have that look on your face whenever he's on your mind. So I'll say again, spill it. What happened?"

"Ok, fine. Yes, he was there. I spotted him outside on the building's balcony and he claimed he was refilling his web cartridges. I didn't buy it, but I didn't press the matter. We talked for a bit and then…"

"And then? And then what?"

_Might as well rip off the band aid._

"We almost kissed," Felicia blurts out.

"WHAT!? OH MY GOD!" Felicia squeals like a giddy teenager then leaps forward and hugs Felicia. "How did you even manage that? I mean, you're gorgeous and everything, but damn, just how…?" Deborah asks at a rapid fire pace and Felicia clamps her hand over her mouth to get her to stop.

"I don't know. It all happened so fast. When I saw him he seemed flustered about something, so I tried to ease his mind by talking to him like a normal person. The next thing I knew, he asked me to dance."

"The Web Head can dance?"

"Very well as a matter of fact. It was wonderful, like a fairytale moment almost."

"You can say that again. I can imagine thousands of women that would want to be in your place right now. So why didn't you kiss him?"

"Because he stopped at the last second. I didn't ask why. Sure I was disappointed, but it was the right thing to do."

"You should've taken that chance when you had it."

"Then it wouldn't have been special."

"But you could never be in that situation ever again."

"But as I said, kissing him wouldn't have been right. In that moment, he didn't need a fan. He needed something real." Much to Felicia's surprise, Deborah's look of giddiness softened into one of understanding.

"This is more than just a crush, isn't it?" She asks.

"Maybe. I don't know."

"Maybe you relate to him because you both carry such great responsibilities. He has to keep the city out of danger and you have to keep Oscorp from putting the city in the danger."

"Very funny, but you might be right. I don't know what it is, but I do know I want to see him again."

"Well the next time you do, be sure to plant one on him or I'll never forgive you," Deborah chuckles.

"Only if Spidey wants too. Oh my gosh. Would you listen to me? Acting like I could be with a superhero. It's the stuff of fiction."

"He's a guy with Spider powers, Felicia. We're already in the stuff of fiction. And you said it yourself, he sounds like a normal guy under the mask. So, in theory, you have as much a chance of being with him as anyone."

"I doubt anything will happen between us, but thanks, Deborah."

"What are friends for? And by the way, so it's Spidey now is it," Deborah says with a sly grin.

"I'm going to the bathroom now," Felicia sighs.

"Spidey and Felicia, sitting in a tree. Almost K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Deborah sings as Felicia enters the bathroom and slumps against the door once she shuts it.

_I need to take my mind of Spidey, ugh, Spider-Man,_  Felicia thinks and recalls how Deborah looked in the dark when she entered the apartment.

Closing her eyes, Felicia shuts off the lights to her bathroom and counts to ten. She opens them back up and gasps at her reflection. She walks closer to the mirror to make sure she's seeing what she's seeing; her eyes, bright yellow and illuminated in the dark.

* * *

Peter sits at a table at the local Burger King awaiting the arrival of the person he called the night before as he plays around with the food her ordered for them both; still unsure of why he's doing this, but knows it's too late to back out now.

"As I live and breathe, Peter Parker!" Flash Thompson announces entering the fast food restaurant.

"Hey Flash," Peter greets, standing up and attempting to shake his hand, but Flash pulls him into a big hug instead while ruffling his hair.

"How have you been, man? It feels like it's been ages since we last saw each other."

"I'm not sure how long it's been myself," Peter says as he and Flash sit down.

"Dude, you're supposed to be the smart one," Flash laughs.

"I know, I know, but we all have our off days," Peter says, starting to eat.

"You're telling me. I've bungled more than my fair share of basketball games while at college. We all miss you up there by the way."

"Who's we?"

"I don't think you ever realized this, but you had a bit of a following back at high school. That was kind of the reason I was such a jerk to you."

"I thought it was because I called you Eugene."

"That too." They both share a laugh at this and continue eating their lunch.

"I might be joining you all up there soon. It's just that with Aunt May and everything…"

"You don't need to explain yourself to me Pete," Flash interrupts. "We all live life at our own pace."

"Wow, that's really understanding of you."

"What can I say? College opened my mind. But I can tell from how you sounded over the phone that you didn't just call to hang out. So what's up?"

"I need you to take this seriously before I begin. Is that clear?"

"Of course."

"Alright. You see. There's this girl."

"Is there now?" Flash asks already looking invested.

"Yes, but I'm not telling you who she is. Let's just call her…Felicity for the moment."

"And is this Felicity someone you have a crush on?"

"That's the thing. We've only had a few brief encounters, but it feels like it could be more than a simple crush."

"And let me guess, you're worried that you might be betraying Gwen's memory?"

Just hearing those words spoken out loud feels like a punch to Peter's gut and he takes a moment to compose himself before answering. "In a word, yes."

"I don't know why you'd want to talk to me about this as I've never had the kind of love you two did. But if you really do want my opinion, you've done nothing wrong."

"What?" Peter asks almost as if he was expecting, or even wanted, to be criticized for his possible feelings for Felicia.

"I know that losing Gwen was tragic, but you grieved Pete.  _Majorly_ grieved. It's been over a year since she died and to be honest, you're kind of too young to declare that you'll never love again."

"I'm 18."

"I rest my case."

"Maybe you're right, but I still don't know what to think."

"Let's talk about this Felicity then. What is it about her that you like?"

"When I first saw her, she had this strong will about her, but as I learned more, I realized that she was really just an ordinary person that wanted to make a difference in the world. I found myself relating to that and I think she might relate to me too. When we spoke to each other, I felt at ease along with a wave of serenity washing over me. It was like I wasn't carrying a huge weight on my shoulders and that everything that had transpired since my Uncle died could be left in the past."

"You're right. This does sound like more than a crush, Pete."

"But what would Gwen say if she saw me now?"

"I'm willing to bet my athletic scholarship that she'd want you to be happy. You shouldn't close yourself off to a future because of the past."

"I wish it was that easy, but thanks Flash. You don't know how much you helped me out."

"Please tell me. I could use the positivity," he jokes again and the two share another laugh before returning to their lunch.

**To Be Continued…**


	11. The Lives They Lived

In the cover of the night, Alistair Smythe entered the building that once belonged to Quest Labs. The building playing host to Gustav Fiers and his men. The ones that intended to strike against Oscorp and Felicia. He enters a modestly sized laboratory with a smug and excited grin on his face as he takes a seat in front of a computer. He switches it on and his smile somehow finds a way to increase in size as a loading screen appears. However, he did feel a mild twinge of guilt as he watches his creation power on, knowing that it will be used against Felicia. He truly admired the young woman; maybe even liked her. But, he knew as long as she sat at the head of Oscorp, she would always restrict him from accessing Oscorp’s greater wealth of resources and technology. Resources and technology that Fiers was more than happy to provide. Resources and technology that would help him accomplish the one thing he currently desired above all else.

Smythe always lived a life of complexity. Even if the simplest course of action was the best, he took it as a challenge. Nothing gave him a greater thrill than blowing past people’s expectations including his own. And yet when he joined Oscrop, he initially started to worry that perhaps he might have reached his peak. He made some truly great inventions for the company at first, but there was nothing to truly drive him forward. Nothing to present him with a challenge. Nothing, until the fateful day Spider-Man made his presence known. Smythe had heard of Oscorp’s bio-weapons experiments, but to see one in action, to see something leap over the limits of humanity, not only flipped Smythe’s entire perspective of the world, but also flipped the switch of inspiration. From that day forward, he had only one goal. To create a machine that could go surpass something that was more than human. 

**_Alistair Smythe. He once lived the life of an ambitious scientist, but would soon be one of the most feared minds in the city._**

* * *

 

The computer signifies the completion of the loading progress and switches to a first person point of view. Smythe puts on a headset and speaks into it. 

“Slayer Mark II online. Movement test,” he states and then he observes whatever he is commanding moving towards a concrete block. “Check. Arms and hands,” he states and his creation picks up the block of concrete and tosses it to the other side of the room in one fell swoop. “Check,” he adds. “Mic check. Test 1, 2, 3. Can you hear me?…I said can you…”

“Yeah, yeah, Alistair. We hear you loud and clear,” a sardonic voice replies.

“You do _not_ have the privilege of calling me Alistair, Mr. Gargan,” Smythe sneers turning the Slayer’s attention towards the sound of Gargan’s voice only to find the space empty.

“I’ll call you whatever the Hell I want!” Gargan shouts and Smythe directs the Slayer’s gaze upwards just as Gargan drops from the ceiling and lands directly in front the Slayer; his knees only slightly bending as his feet hit the floor. 

“First of all, was that supposed to scare me? Secondly, I wouldn’t be pulling such foolish stunts if I were you. We still yet to know the full extent of what your armor can take. Fiers would be…displeased if you broke it.”

“Spare me your intimidation tactics, Alistair. I know fully well what this baby can do,” Gargan says and points his armor’s tail in the Slayer’s face. “Want to go a few rounds and see for yourself?”

“I’d enjoy that very much, but it isn’t what we were hired to do,” Smythe says and pushes the tail in another direction. 

“Right, you just know that I would win.”

“You most certainly would not, but proving you wrong would require me to damage your armor, and again, I would not want to displease Mr. Fiers.”

“You wouldn’t be so confident if you were standing here in the flesh,” Gargan says and holds up his hand exposing his armor’s claws.

“Gentlemen, enough!” Toomes orders. He gracefully flies down from his perch and lands in between the pair. “I’m getting real tired having to keep you two separated. It’s as Smythe said, we weren’t hired to bicker amongst ourselves. There will be plenty of time for that after the operation is complete. Understood?”

“Hmph, whatever,” Gargan replies and walks off to his own section of the training room. “You can put up with this for just a little longer,” he whispers to himself. “It will all pay off soon.” He glances at a concrete block in front of him, smirks, powers up his tail’s laser canon, and fires, obliterating a large chunk of the block.

Mac Gargan. He lived his life following one motto. ‘If you want something, you take it. And if someone knocked you down, you get back up and you break them’. That motto helped him swiftly build up a reputation as one of the city’s most feared thugs. But then everything changed one day when he found himself hanging upside down by a web as some freak in a skin tight red and blue suit checked his arm for a star tattoo. He never found out why, and quite frankly he didn’t care. What he did care about was what came later. The cops couldn’t stop joking about hilarious it apparently was to arrest a guy caught in a spider’s web and Gargan’s cell mates found the story a riot as well. He had never been so humiliated in all his life and he _would_ put a stop to it if it was the last thing he ever did.

And so when Gargan escaped from jail not long afterwards, he committed whatever crimes he could think of to draw the web slinger out, but the clown treated their second encounter as little more than a joke and hung him back upside down again before leaving. Something snapped inside the thug that day and he began training himself day in and day out and listening to stories of criminals also busted by the freak to learn just how he thinks. And it paid off when they met again. Gargan still remembers the adrenaline he felt when he actually plunged his knife into Spider-Man’s shoulder and heard him scream. He even managed to force him to the street and get in a few punches in his face. He still wound up hanging upside down again by the time the cops arrived, but it turns out being one of the few street level criminals to injure Spider-Man earns you a lot of respect and attracts a lot of attention. Such as from one Gustav Fiers and everything changed again. He was offered a chance to level the playing field and become the natural predator to the Spider. He thought he’d died and gone to Heaven when he saw the Scoprion armor. 

**_Mac Gargan. He lived the life of a petty crook and hired thug, but was now one of the most powerful men in the city._**

* * *

 

“Ready…GO!” DeWolff shouts out then rushes at Felicia wielding a sparring baton. 

She swings her’s at Felicia’s lower waist, but she blocks it and then wildly swings her own baton at DeWolff. She dodges the strikes and then they simultaneously swing at each other. Their batons lock and they grin at one another as they fight for control before DeWolff grabs Felicia’s right arm, twist her around, and starts driving her towards the wall. Felicia elbows DeWolff in the stomach making her lose her grip and Felicia breaks free, but she keeps rushing toward the wall, and then actually runs up it, before jumping back and doing a flip. DeWolff can only watch in disbelief as Felicia goes over her head and lands almost perfectly on her feet. Felicia readies herself to continue, but DeWolff only continues to stare. 

“Is there something wrong?” Felicia asks.

“Yeah…just…how did you,” DeWolff stammers looking back to the wall and then at Felicia. “You don’t have any super powers I should be aware of, do you?”

“Nope. Just a great teacher,” Felicia compliments and then gives DeWolff an unexpected hug. “Ready to continue?”

“I’m still a little distracted from that back flip, so maybe it’s best that we just call it quits for the night.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I had a long night at work anyway, so I could use the rest. We’ll pick this back up again next week.”

“Alright. See you then,” Felicia says and watches DeWolff depart for the locker room. Felicia, still psyched up, decides to hang around the gym for a little longer.

_I’ll need to be more careful about not accidentally displaying what I can do in front of Jean. She’d freak out is she knew the truth,_ Felicia thinks before walking over to a rock climbing wall and beginning to scale it.

Really, she’s surprised she hasn’t freaked out herself. It’s like one minute, Smythe is informing her that his Seekers had tracked down suspicious movements from Toomes, and the next she’s injecting another full vial of what she took from Special Projects into her body. It knocked her out cold for a few hours, but when she came too, she felt wonderful; spectacular even. Again, it should’ve scared her that she’d even think of doing something like this, but it didn’t.

Felicia used to live a life in the background. She would only speak when spoken too and even then, Felicia sometimes tried to avoid that. She didn’t think herself worth anyone’s time and was better off being no different than a piece of furniture; something people knew was there, but would only acknowledge if they wanted to use it. And then Spider-Man entered the picture and nothing was the same. He wasn’t just a real life superhero. He was a hero that looked upon the good people of the city as equals. Just the belief that someone like him could notice everyone, including someone like her, made Felicia believe it wasn’t too late to come out of her shell. When Harry took notice of her, she viewed it as the perfect opportunity to be someone and not something. Even with the Special Projects Incident going as sideways as it did, it still made Felicia feel good that she tried to help at all. Maybe that was why she decided to stand up to Donald and take Oscorp from him. If Spider-Man could stand up to injustice, she could try too and because of him, here she is now. Her body changing in a way she’s still not certain of, but she knows she likes it.

Felicia scales a few feet down the rock wall and then leaps off it, almost landing perfectly on her feet again. She kicks up her sparring baton into he hands and starts to practice on her own.

**_Felicia Hardy. She lived her life in the shadows. But soon, she’ll live it as a warrior._**

* * *

 

_Something about Felicia is not adding up,_ DeWolff thinks traversing the parking garage to reach her car. 

_Her having powers would certainly explain a lot. Hopefully these fighting lessons aren’t, so she can learn to use her hypothetical powers for evil-oh my God, Jean. Are you really going there? Felicia’s fine. A little mysterious, but she doesn’t have ‘future criminal’ tattooed to her face,_ she continues to think while going through her bag for her car keys. 

“Hi detective.”

“Oh my God!” DeWolff screams looking up and her eyes meeting Spider-Man’s. “You jerk! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that? You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days,” she angrily whispers.

“I offer my sincerest apologies,” he states and drops from the ceiling to the floor. 

“Not that I’m angry to see you, Spidey, but I don’t like to be bothered when I’m barely off the clock, so can you make this quick?”

“For you, anything,” he says and then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a picture and hands it to the officer. “Her alias is Jessica Keating. Supposedly a month from now, she’ll be planning some kind of break out at the Ravencroft Institute. I’ve been trying to discover her true identity for a few weeks with no luck and thought you might fare better.”

DeWolff looks over the picture of Jessica, but nothing about her appears familiar. “I’m not sure how I can do a better job than a superhero, but I’ll try my best just for you.”

“That’s all I ask,” Spider-Man chuckles; deciding to keep Fisk’s involvement to himself for now until it’s been properly sorted out. 

“Is there anything that you do know that can help me out?”

“Just that ‘Keating’ is her ex-husband’s last name and that according to her, he was good for nothing except killing. She also has some kind of accent that I couldn’t place.”

“And how are you aware of this possible planned break out at Ravencroft?”

"Good old fashioned Detective Work...and by that I mean eavesdropping."  


“I don’t suppose you had a tape recorder on hand when you eavesdropped, did you?”

“It would make things too easy if I did.”

“Can’t blame a lady for hoping.” DeWolff places the photo in her purse. “I’ll see what I can come up with. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.”

“Happy to help. Feel free to write me a ticket for the whole disturbing you too soon business,” he quips and then leaps out of the garage and swings off into the night; DeWolff smiling as she watches him disappear.

She’d never tell him this, but she did greatly admire him, which is pretty ironic as she didn’t have the highest of opinions of him when they first met. All she knew was that if George Stacey thought Spider-Man was bad news, then he must be. The confusing nature of how Spider-Man was involved with his death didn’t help matters either. But as time progressed, she witnessed him bring something to the city that she hadn’t seen in a long time. Hope; genuine hope. 

The city itself seemed unusually brighter shortly after he arrived and stopped The Lizard’s attack. Initially she still had her reservations about him initially, that is until he rescued her from a group of muggers. She expected him to leave as soon as he showed up, but he stayed with her and looked over some of her injuries while they waited for an ambulance to arrive. There was something sincere in his voice that she couldn’t deny; sense of humor wasn’t half bad either. Most surprising thing of all was how he somehow snuck a note into her hospital room while she recovered. It simply read:

**Glad you’re alright. One less officer is one less person that can help keep this city safe.**

**\- Spidey**

She spoke with other officers after getting out of the hospital about what they thought of him and most of them admitted they only ever got brief glimpses of him or exchanged a few brief words before he had to race off to another crime. It made her wonder if she was the only other cop in town besides George to have ever directly spoken to him. She wasn’t sure what to make of all this, but she was glad to know Spider-Man was on their side. She’d return the favor by figuring out who this mystery lady was and putting a stop to whatever she had planned.

**_Jean DeWolff. She lived a life of an officer working keep the city safe. Soon she’d be a General fighting for its very survival._**

**To Be Continued…**

**_A/N: Next time, ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE_ **


End file.
